BOTH sides will prepare for the Toyota AFL Grand Final with injury clouds over key players.

Hawthorn is expecting Luke Hodge and Lance Franklin to shake off injuries picked up in Saturday's preliminary final win over St Kilda, while Geelong is confident utility Paul Chapman will recover in time for the decider.

Chapman missed Friday night's 29-point preliminary final win over the Western Bulldogs with a hamstring injury and he must prove his fitness to play for the defending premiers in the grand final.

The Cats ruled out Chapman early last week, but football manager Neil Balme said that would only happen again if the outlook was negative - something they don't expect.

"As (coach Mark Thompson) has already said, it's a matter of putting the work into him and seeing how he recovers," Balme said.

Chapman's return would create a massive selection dilemma for Geelong, because young forward Travis Varcoe had his grand final berth guaranteed by Thompson after an impressive performance against the `Dogs.

James Kelly and David Wojcinski are among a small group of players who could conceivably be omitted to make way for Chapman's return.

Hodge's renowned toughness gained added currency after a clash with Saints ruckman Justin Koschitzke early in the 54-point preliminary final win left him coughing up blood at quarter time.

A Hawthorn club doctor had a stethoscope on Hodge's back at the first break, checking for any lung damage.

Hodge also had to leave the field in major distress after a second-term collision, but he returned to the field and ran out the game without any extra trouble.

"There are no problems - he was obviously checked at quarter-time by the doctors to make sure he was safe to keep playing," said Hawks football manager Mark Evans.

"Once he was deemed to be safe, it was going to be about how well he performed during the rest of the game.

"He's run hard, he's tackled hard, he's marked the ball with no problem, so he will be fine.

"If this was round 12, 13 or 14, he would play - given it's a bigger game than that, you can guarantee he'll play."

The Hawks say star forward Franklin only jarred a thumb in his quiet preliminary final.