Hawthorn will be without superstar forward Lance Franklin ahead of Saturday’s virtual elimination final against Essendon, where the winner will enter the top eight while the loser will miss out on the finals.
Lance Franklin was found guilty of rough conduct because of his bump on Richmond’s Ben Cousins at the MCG last Saturday night, leaving the Tiger concussed.
Franklin was suspended for two games as the tribunal jury found that he could have tackled Cousins instead of bumping.
The Hawk maintained bumping was his only option and that he has done nothing wrong.
“Yeah, I feel that,” he said.
“I’m very devastated; I’d love to be out there with the boys this weekend and the weekend after. I’m devastated really.”
If Hawthorn beat Essendon this week, they will play in an elimination final the following week without the reigning Coleman medallist.
Hawthorn is still considering their options and may appeal the verdict, saying they would seek clarification from AFL football operations general manager Adrian Anderson.
“It didn’t go our way so it’s a very disappointing result for us,” a Hawthorn spokesman said.
“I find it a little distressing that in summing up we can regard someone’s conduct as reasonable yet they still miss two matches.
“It’s very disappointing and we’ll be following that up with Adrian tomorrow (Wednesday).”
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