The Hawks will enter this week's crucial clash against the in-form Demons without key defender Tom Barrass, who will be rested.
Barrass, 29, who linked with the Hawks over the off-season, has slotted in seamlessly and will be a big loss to the Hawthorn backline, who are currently ranked sixth in terms of points conceded.
During last week's 65-point win against the Tigers, Barrass landed awkwardly in a marking contest and took some time to recover, before playing out the match.
Barrass was running laps with the rehab group during Hawthorn's main training session before doing some contested marking work with Josh Battle, with coach Sam Mitchell stating he was being managed ahead of Hawthorn's difficult month ahead.
"We look at load management and how we want to manage the list throughout the whole season and be quite well prepared," Mitchell said.
"Tom Barrass won't play in this game. When we recruited him, we didn't think he would play every game for the season.
"He's had a really good block and played every game and been in good form for us.
"The chance of him playing every minute of every game consistently was going to be difficult.
"He could play but we are going to manage his load for the season this week."
The Demons, fresh off a win against West Coast in Perth, will be a challenge for the Hawks, who are yet to recapture their 2024 form.
Mitchell understands that the Hawks will need to bring their best to get the win.
"We haven't played them for quite a while, since very early last season, and they've certainly changed a few things," he said.
"They've won the last three now.
"I said a month ago, I went and watched them live and I thought you can see what they're trying to do and the best of Melbourne is certainly ahead of them and it feels like that.
"I feel like they are improving their game and they have started to master the tweaks that they've made."
The Hawks are wrestling with the decision as to whether Calsher Dear returns this week or not, with the final decision to be made in match selection after training.
"He's getting closer. We didn't consider him available last week, and now it is whetehr or not we think it is best for him to play," his coach added.
"I'm certain we'd like to get him back in but we want to do it at a time that is best for him, so that may be this week or maybe a little further down the road."
Dear spent time running with the rehab group, before joining in with contact drills with the main team.
The Hawks will look to continue their strong form on Saturday at the MCG, where they will be aiming to make it a 7-2 start with a victory over the Dees, which will be the first time Mitchell has tasted success against Melbourne as a coach.
