Sam Mitchell at odds with Luke Hodge as fans spot telling detail in Hawthorn training photo

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has dismissed criticism from club legend Luke Hodge around Jack Ginnivan's controversial social media move. Hodge claimed Ginnivan had given Port Adelaide more 'ammunition' to beat the Hawks by telling Sydney Swans player Brodie Grundy "see you in 14 days".

Ginnivan was referencing the fact the Swans have advanced to the preliminary final, and the Hawks will face them if they get past Port Adelaide this weekend. But Ginnivan is so confident he's looking toward the preliminary final already.

According to Hodge, who captained the Hawks to four premierships, Ginnivan has given Port extra motivation to beat them. "One thing you don't do is give ammunition to the opposition," Hodge said on SEN radio this week.

"He's having a bit of a joke, he played two years with Grundy at Collingwood, so they know each other and it's probably a bit of banter. But what you do is you send banter in a text message, you don't put it out in the open for Port Adelaide to sit there and go, 'Let's use this and get stuck into Ginnivan'."

Paul Roos and Kane Cornes have also criticised Ginnivan's public comment, but according to Mitchell there's nothing out of order. "Hodgey's obviously from my old-school days," the Hawthorn coach said on Wednesday.

"I heard his comments and I know that he's just trying to spur on the Hawks as he goes for us this week. I'm not sure about motivating Port Adelaide. They've got their season on the line the same way we do. We're going into a knockout final and I think both teams are going to be as highly motivated as you could possibly hope for. I don't buy into too many things outside that."

Fans notice brilliant move from Josh Weddle at Hawks training

The Hawks have been rocked by injury heading into the clash with Port Adelaide, losing Sam Frost and Will Day. Fans noticed at Wednesday's training session that Josh Weddle was wearing Frost's number, which shows the kind of culture Mitchell has built during his time as coach.

Frost is out for the rest of the season, while Day has been ruled out of the Port Adelaide clash but is firming to return for the prelim if the Hawks advance. Mitchell has made a big selection call, going with Jai Serong to replace Frost for the Port game.

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The 21-year-old Serong has played just nine senior games - including four this season - and last appeared at AFL level in the round-10 defeat to the Power. Serong's selection comes as reward for his outstanding form across 13 VFL matches this season.

"While it is disappointing for Sam (Frost) to miss Friday night's game, we know Jai has been knocking on the door for a number of weeks now with his fantastic form in the VFL," Hawks football boss Rob McCartney said. "It's pleasing to see him get another opportunity to showcase his weapons at the AFL level and we know he will take it with both hands."

As for Day, there were intriguing scenes at training on Wednesday when he returned to some contact work. It led to speculation he might be a shock late inclusion for the game against Port, but it appears more likely he'll return the following week if the Hawks are still alive.

with AAP