MIDFIELDER Jordan Lewis has forecast the return of spearhead Lance Franklin against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Sunday.
Franklin has missed the Hawks’ past five matches with a hamstring injury sustained in Hawthorn’s Round 15 win over Greater Western Sydney,
He has been listed as ‘test’ on the injury list for the past two weeks, but failed to make the trip to Tasmania for the Hawks’ 72-point win over Port Adelaide on Sunday.
Lewis believes though, that the wait is over.
“I think they’re just being pretty cautious with him, but I think you’ll see him back out there this week,” Lewis said at the Brighton Sea Baths on Monday.
“He was ready to go last week, he had a full week of training.
“He just wasn’t quite right towards the end.”
The Hawks have taken a cautious approach with Franklin’s injury, one that was sustained in the week after he hobbled from the ground with hamstring tightness against the Blues in Round 14.
Lewis says that while he’s itching to pull on the brown and gold again, Franklin understands that soft tissue injuries take time.
“He understands that he’s had an injury that needs time,” Lewis said.
“The player that he is, he’s not a slug like me, he actually gets up to some speed - they need to be cautious with him, and they have been.
“Its been five weeks, and I think for anyone that’s injured [that amount of time] is frustrated at times, but he’s remained positive which is good to see.
Lewis says that part of the reason the Club has erred on the side of caution with Franklin is the finals series that is just around the corner.
“It’s just something you don’t want to risk,” he said.
“When you’ve got a pretty big finals campaign coming up, and he wants to make sure he’s at 100 per cent before he comes back out and plays.”
The Hawks were without its two leading goal kickers on Sunday, as Jarryd Roughead also failed to make the trip to Tasmania.
In his comeback from a serious Achilles injury, Roughead has played every match since his return, in Round 2.
Lewis said a niggling ankle injury was the reason behind his late withdrawal.
“He had a niggling ankle injury and the one week off would have done him the world of good,” he said.
Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s Digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre.
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