Alastair Clarkson, foregoing the traditional pre-match game of intrigue surrounding the make-up of the team, declared Hodge a non-starter for Friday night's clash against Fremantle on Thursday.
"He [Hodge] won’t play this week; he probably needs anywhere from two to four weeks off," Clarkson said shortly before the team flew out of Melbourne Airport for Perth.
"He's carried an adductor injury for the best part of the last month, but he's such a competitive bull and he wanted to do the right thing by the team because we had so many other defenders out.
"He tried to get through and two or three games he managed it really well, but last week from early on it was evident that he had lost that turn of speed that he needs to be at his best in the game.
"He's better off having a spell for a little, then we'll get him back and hopefully he'll have a really good second half of the year."
Goal sneak Cameron Stokes has also suffered an injury and will not play, but in better news for the Hawks Chance Bateman, considered a near certainty to miss with a calf strain, has trained well this week and will take his place in the line-up.
"[Chance] has trained over the last couple of days and we're anticipating at this point in time that he'll play," Clarkson said.
"He's recovered remarkably well from last week's game. We thought at the end of the game that [he would be one of] three certain casualties … but he's responded really well to treatment this week."
Brent Guerra and Jarryd Morton will come into the side to replace Hodge and Stokes.
The reigning premiers currently sit outside the eight with just three wins, but Clarkson denied the game against Fremantle had taken on any greater significance as a result.
"It certainly doesn't help us, if we lose again this week, to remain in touch with the eight, but you're only ever a couple of wins away from jumping back into the top four too," he said.
"We'll just see how the season unfolds. We realise winning form is good form and we need to get back onto the winners' list pretty soon, but it certainly doesn't make this week or even the week after [any more important].
"I don't think there's anything drastically different this week to what we've done in normal weeks. Our program doesn't change that much in terms of the feedback that we provide out players.
"We lost the game [against Essendon] by seven goals and we were disappointed with our performance right across the board – the way we played, the way we coached, the way we prepared; so we need to address a few things and hopefully we'll do that this week."
A scheduling clash means the Hawks will be unable to train on Subiaco ahead of the game, but Clarkson was unconcerned, saying the club had known for some time and had tailored its preparation accordingly.
