Dawes was dropped ahead of the Pies' round 23 clash with Essendon after a period of unconvincing form.
Complicating matters is the fact the Pies' VFL side's season ended a week ago, meaning the 24-year-old only has training to prove he is worthy of a call up.
Vice captain Scott Pendlebury said Dawes was in good spirits on Monday morning when the team went for a run around the Tan, and that he looked "refreshed" after a weekend off.
Midfielder Dayne Beams said he had put together a solid week on the track and had remained upbeat.
"I know 'Dawesy' worked pretty hard last week and he's raring to go and he was up and about today," Beams said.
"He's positive. I suppose he has to be. He knows that when he's up and going, he's a vital part of our structure as well.
"He trained hard last week and hopefully if that was the sort of week where he's had a bit of time to reflect on his form and what he can do better, he can maybe come in this week and produce something for us."
Beams said the match committee faced a tough decision after Dawes' replacement Jackson Paine did a good job against the Bombers with one goal and five marks.
With Dawes out of the side, defender Nick Maxwell was called upon as the back-up ruckman to Darren Jolly, while Pendlebury threw himself into the big man contest a couple of times as third man up.
"I only did it twice for the whole night. There wasn't too much in it," Pendlebury said.
"If the opportunity presents itself again this weekend, it's something that I'll look at doing because with 'Maxy' going in there, [the Hawks] have obviously got [David] Hale and 'Roughy' [Jarryd Roughead] that are two genuine ruckmen-type … even though 'Roughy's' a bit smaller, he's very athletic.
"It will just help us combat that little bit of weakness when 'Jolls' is out."
But Pendlebury also said Dawes could provide an "interesting" contest with Roughead given their physical similarities.
"If 'Dawesy' was to come in this week, it presents another challenge because it's him versus Roughead, two very athletic guys so it will be interesting to see," he said.
Travis Cloke kicked five goals and took 16 marks against the Bombers, which Beams agreed could signal a turning point for the burly forward.
"I think it will give him great confidence. He's copped a fair bit of the brunt of the team's performance over the last month or so. The big guys seems to cop it and Trav's been no exception to that," Beams said.
"We've tried to work on the way we kick the ball to him and I think we cleaned that up a little bit on the weekend.
"Hopefully he can continue that because he's a vital part of our side."
Both players agreed the Hawks' precision by foot was a vital part of their game, with Beams going as far to say they were "cut up" by the team's execution when they lost to them in rounds one and round 17 this year.
But, he said after what had been an "up and down season", the Pies were confident in the fact they had played in 16 finals since 2006.
"In the last couple of years, we've probably been the hunted. Teams have come after us whereas this year we've probably not been as in form as we have been in the last couple," he said.
"In a way, we're the hunters and that's something that sits fine with us but we're going to have to be at our best to produce this finals series."
Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.
