HAWTHORN has suffered a major blow on the eve of its clash with West Coast at Subiaco Oval, with star forward Lance Franklin ruled out with an ankle injury.

Coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed from Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport on Friday that Franklin would not travel to Perth for the match.

Franklin had declared his fitness at a Thursday press conference to announce his new three-year deal with the Hawks, but Clarkson said that the 23-year-old's ankle had not improved as hoped.

"He tweaked his ankle on Wednesday at training," Clarkson said.

"He's done that before and been able to recover OK, but we had a look at him this morning.

"Given the plane trip wasn't going to do him any good ... with altitude in trying to bring the swelling down ... he'll miss this week and hopefully be right for the Richmond game [in round eight]."

Clarkson said Franklin was close to being available but was likely to have needed an injection to help him through the match.

Franklin’s loss will be felt in more ways than one, with extra pressure falling on Hawthorn's other key forward Jarryd Roughead to kick goals.

Roughead has been supporting ruckman Brent Renouf, who will now have to shoulder the load against West Coast's big weapons, Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui.

Clarkson said he would have to review his forward structure.

“Sometimes that’ll mean Roughy’s part of that structure, or he will be for the bulk of it I’d imagine, and other times … we’ll probably use him in the ruck,” Clarkson said.

“We’ll see how that unfolds through the course of the game. It’s going to be pretty warm over there, I think, so we’re going to need to give guys a little bit of a chop-out in different positions on the ground.”

Midfielder Jordan Lewis, one of four players dropped from the side on Thursday afternoon, was among the travelling party and could take Franklin's place.

However, Clarkson said it was normal for Hawthorn to have two or three emergencies for its interstate matches.

The coach said telling dumped premiership players Michael Osborne and Lewis they were out of the side wasn’t easy but it was necessary as the Hawks try to re-discover their “mojo”.

“It’s never an enjoyable part of the game to tell experienced players that their form’s not good enough to warrant a spot in your best 22 at the current time, but they’re the sort of searching measures we’ve got to go to to try to rediscover the type of form we know we’re capable of,” he said.

Clarkson said he hoped the injection of younger players from Box Hill would provide the required enthusiasm to help his team get over West Coast, whose season is also floundering at 1-5.