WITH a combined 10-goal haul to Jarryd Roughead and Jack Gunston against Port Adelaide on Saturday, Hawthorn proved it doesn't need Lance Franklin to remain the attacking powerhouse of the AFL.
An injured Franklin skipped the flight to Adelaide on Friday and watched on in Melbourne as Roughead and Gunston booted five goals each, while Isaac Smith and Shane Savage nailed three apiece.
With speculation running rife as to whether 'Buddy' will remain a Hawk in 2014, the attack's polished performance against the Power suggested the club wouldn't suffer if he left.
Coach Alastair Clarkson said he had been specifically trying to make sure his side had other avenues to goal this season and that to have such a spread of goal kickers was satisfying.
"We've worked on that a fair bit and feel like we've got good potency that can be spread across a number of players that can go in that part of the ground," Clarkson said.
"Savage stepped up and kicked three and I think Smith kicked three so that's really pleasing…it's really important to have that spread and not rely on just one or two players.
"I think we only got a couple of goals out of (Paul) Puopolo, (Cyril) Rioli and Breust, but other guys stepped up."
Whilst he wasn’t needed against the Power, Clarkson expected Franklin to be available for selection next weekend against the Western Bulldogs, although he admitted that "stranger things have happened".
"He's just got a bit of swelling behind his knee, he came out of [last week's] game fine and he was OK up until Tuesday," he said.
"We'll assess that over the course of the weekend.
"We thought it was going to settle but he's had these types of things before and he's been no worries.
"From what I can gather he's not going to be a great concern for next week – but stranger things have happened; he had a hamstring last year that we thought was going to take two weeks and it ended up taking six."
Cyril Rioli sent a brief scare through the Hawthorn camp when he limped off, but with just a rolled ankle Clarkson said he was fine.
As was Ben Stratton who was subbed out of the game with concussion.
While the club wasn't concerned about the health of those two, Clarkson didn't rule out resting several players as early as next weekend.
He said due to the physical nature of Saturday's contest, and the fact Hawthorn's VFL side had a week off, sore players might be given time to fully recover.
"It was a pretty torrid affair today, it was pretty physical [and] both sides will have some sore and sorry boys out of this game," he said.
"Our Box Hill guys had a rest this week with a bye, so we'll just assess our list over the course of the week and those guys that pull up a little bit sore then we'll see if they don't play."