LANCE FRANKLIN says he finds the tsunami of innuendo about him 'sad' and 'stupid' amid warnings that bloggers, tweeters and journalists are on dangerous legal ground.

The stern caution comes from AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, who has labeled some of the speculation about the Hawthorn full-forward 'disgusting'.

"It comes with playing AFL football these days, which is pretty sad and frustrating for my family and my friends and the footy club to hear such stupid rumours," Franklin told Channel 9 on Tuesday.

"I just want to get on with playing footy, and the next couple of weeks are going to be huge for the footy club. [I'm] just looking forward to getting out there."

Franklin has declared he will play against the Sydney Swans on the weekend, and wanted to play against Gold Coast last week but was ruled out because he "felt a bit crook".

He was selected in the Hawthorn team for the clash against the Suns after five weeks on the sideline with a hamstring injury.

Demetriou predicted that AFL players would take those responsible for scandalous social media posts to the courts if necessary.

"I think you'll see legal action, particularly if it gets to the point where people start naming people, and they do it even mistakenly," he said. 

"Everyone's just got to be on notice, they've got to be very, very careful about what they're peddling."

"I think people are entitled to protect their name; I think people's reputations (are) very important."

"I fully support Hawthorn's outrage yesterday,"

Matt Thompson is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @MattThompsonAFL.