Brad Sewell has been rested from the VFL season decider, suggesting the Hawthorn veteran is very much in the mix for an AFL grand final recall.

Sewell, Cyril Rioli and Ben McEvoy were slated to turn out for Box Hill on Sunday, as coach Alastair Clarkson mulls his best 22 for Saturday’s clash with Sydney.

Instead Sewell trained at Waverley Park in the morning alongside Jonathan Simpkin, who was the Hawks’ substitute in their preliminary final against Port Adelaide.

Sewell was dropped for the match against the Power.

Clarkson expects Jordan Lewis to recover from what he termed a “severe” corked thigh, but if he doesn’t then Sewell would be an obvious replacement.

“They’ve pulled him out of the VFL to keep him in the mix,” Hawks defender Josh Gibson told the Seven Network’s Game Day.

“It (being dropped for a preliminary final) is really tough.

“The most pleasing thing for me was the way he went about it when he was left out of the side.

“It’s ok to be selfish at times, but he just put that aside and was so team focused.”

Sewell has played 200 games, including the 2008, 2012 and 2013 grand finals.

His 2014 campaign has been a stop-start affair due to a series of hamstring injuries.