Geelong officials are “pretty optimistic” big forward Tom Hawkins will be fit to play in Friday night’s AFL knockout semi-final but can’t be sure until the morning.

Cats’ football boss Neil Balme says Hawkins, who was a late withdrawal from last week’s qualifying final loss to Fremantle because of his back issues, will be named in the team on Thursday night for the MCG clash against Port Adelaide.

“He’s pretty good. We’re hopeful,” Balme told a media conference at Simonds Stadium on Thursday.

“We’ll pick him but nothing’s changed over the last few weeks.

“He’s a bit of a day-to-day proposition but we’re pretty confident. Optimistic is probably the best word.”

Balme said it could be argued the 2012 club champion’s performance in match-simulation drills on Wednesday was the best he’d trained for several weeks.

“Yeah probably I guess. But there’s no certainty that that condition remains,” Balme said.

Balme said it was possible Hawkins’ condition could worsen again by Friday morning.

“He’s not out of the woods completely. But again we’re pretty optimistic,” Balme said.

Balme said the constant uncertainty over the key forward’s fitness was a challenge for the club.

“We cope with that,” he said.

“It’s not that bad (enough to be ruled out for the finals series). We’re pretty confident he’ll be good on Friday.

“He just gets a bit tight and it’s not ideal. Anyone who’s played two hours of footy knows that’s a pretty challenging thing.”

Balme said emerging midfielder Josh Caddy was unlikely to be named in Thursday night’s side because of a sore ankle.