Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge has promised his ill-timed bout of gastro will not restrict his output in Saturday’s AFL grand final against Sydney.

The star utility was a late withdrawal from last weekend’s nail-biting preliminary final win over Adelaide because of the illness and he was quarantined from his team-mates for several days.

Hodge returned to training earlier this week and completed Thursday’s training run without any trouble.

“I feel great, I’ve trained all week with the guys and went through our normal sessions – we had a reasonable hitout yesterday,” he said.

“I got through that pretty well, felt good during it and I’m just ready to go for tomorrow.

“I’ve spoken to a dietician throughout the week (about) the best things to put into my body.

“I’m full of confidence, I feel strong at the moment and that will be no issue tomorrow.”

Hodge lost as much as two kilograms of weight because of the illness.

He is one of the league’s toughest players and there was immediate speculation after his withdrawal from the preliminary final that his problem must be more serious than a stomach bug.

But Hodge and the Hawks have insisted he was forced out when he started suffering from hot-and-cold shakes because of his sudden illness.

Hodge famously carried broken ribs into the upset 2008 grand final win over Geelong.

He played across half-back and Cats forward Cameron Mooney recalled this week how he crashed into Hodge’s back three or four times early in the match to test his fitness.

But each time, Hodge merely looked over to Mooney and winked.

Hodge went on to win the Norm Smith Medal as best afield.

There was a media report earlier this week that Hodge’s illness might mean he has to play off the bench, something Hodge laughed off.

“He probably should be sub, I reckon,” Sydney coach John Longmire deadpanned.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson then added: “as long as it’s not a late withdrawal.”