Renowned for his temper, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson cut a cool figure in the wake of Lance Franklin’s report for a high bump on Sydney’s Nick Malceski.
Clarkson was measured but to the point when the topic of Franklin’s bump on Malceski was raised after his side clinched the AFL minor premiership with a 12-point win over the Swans at ANZ Stadium.
“It is what it is. We’ve won games of footy without him, so we’ll do that again (if we need to),” Clarkson said of the prospect of Franklin missing some of the side’s finals campaign.
“But I didn’t think it was a very malicious act so we’ll just see how the match review panel see it.
“Malceski continued to play. We’ll see how it pans out.
“… These things happen in split seconds.”
Clarkson has every reason to feel confident about his side’s return bout against Sydney on Friday night at the MCG, even if Franklin does miss the qualifying final.
The Hawks were outplayed for large sections on Friday night but still surged to a come-from-behind victory, while the team have won 13 of their past 14 matches without Franklin.
Hawthorn forward Jarryd Roughead, who booted four goals to take his season tally to 68 and put one hand on the Coleman medal, has been one of many to stand up in Franklin’s absence in the past.
“We’ve played games without him this year and done pretty well,” Roughead said.
“We will wait and see what happens. I’m pretty sure it will be a massive thing this week.
“… This year, we’ve had three or four blokes that have kicked over 30 goals, which is always good going into finals because defences don’t really know how to match up against us.”
Roughead, seven goals clear of Collingwood’s Travis Cloke on the AFL goal-kicking table, expected next week’s clash with Sydney would be more willing with the stakes much higher.
“The heat will step up a bit more – it’s finals footy,” he said.
“We’ve played good footy all year and lost only three games, but that doesn’t count for anything now. We’ve got a home final against the Swans and it doesn’t get any easier from there.”
