Crawf convinced break won't hurt

Hawthorn champion Shane Crawford is confident the week's break hasn't done his team any harm as it prepares to take on an improving Port Adelaide at Aurora Stadium on Saturday.

The Hawks go into what is arguably the match of the round as one of the form teams of the competition - alongside Geelong and the Western Bulldogs - with seven consecutive victories to start the season, while the Power have reignited their season with three straight wins after losing their first four matches of the year.

Crawford said it was 'hard to tell' if the break would halt the team's momentum, but added that it gave players a chance to get over any niggling injuries.

"We've had a big pre-season and obviously winning seven games in a row is a great start and when you get that momentum and that week-to-week preparation, you obviously want it to continue," he told reporters at Waverley Park on Tuesday.

"Hopefully it hasn't affected us in any way. If anything it's just freshened up the side a little."

Star midfielder Chance Bateman could make a surprise return to a line-up which will be missing Luke Hodge with a hamstring injury.

Bateman was ruled out of last weekend's Hall of Fame match with a hand injury he sustained in Round 6 and was initially expected to miss at least another one or two weeks.

"I would think Chance would come straight back in. I'm hoping anyway. He'll need to get through training on Thursday," Crawford said.

"Obviously with Luke out it's a big loss, but getting Chance back in - he adds plenty of run and has been playing well."

Hawthorn and Port Adelaide fought out a nail-biter in Launceston last year, with the Power erasing a 16-point three-quarter-time deficit to win by five on the siren.

And Crawford expects a similar encounter this time around.

"We've been pretty switched on for this match for the last week or so. We know it's going to be extremely tough because they're hitting a bit of form," he said.

"We know we're going to have to be at our best to beat them. No doubt we need to go to another level to make sure that we're on when we go down to Tassie on Saturday."