Lance Franklin has had a four-day car crash.
First came five damaged cars, a traffic infringement notice, a public apology and vast unwanted publicity.
Then the Sydney star suffered the recurrence of a knee injury and was the wrong half of surely the most famous and expensive substitution seen at an AFL match.
The good news is no-one was hurt on Wednesday night when Franklin drove into four parked cars.
And Sydney coach John Longmire is confident the star forward will be fit for next Saturday night’s away match against Brisbane.
But Franklin’s frustration was evident as he struggled through the Saturday night win over Melbourne at the MCG.
It was his first game at the MCG since being a part of Hawthorn’s premiership team last September.
He had a tough night against opponent Tom McDonald and tangled with Demons backman Alex Georgiou, who will come under video scrutiny for whacking Franklin in the face.
Franklin only had seven possessions before landing on his right knee and aggravating an injury he suffered during the round-three win over Adelaide.
That led to Sydney’s $10 million recruit being subbed off and two-time Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes taking his place.
“There’s a few dollars between him and Goodesy,” Melbourne coach Paul Roos observed.
Sydney coach John Longmire acknowledged Franklin had not enjoyed the best leadup to Saturday night’s game, but said the sore knee might also have affected him during the match.
“It wasn’t an ideal week for him, let’s not shy away from that,” Longmire said.
“It’s not ideal, but that’s what you deal with and he’s got to be able to make sure he (can) switch on to the footy.
“He’s had the knee to try and manage the past few weeks as well.”
Longmire said Franklin had some tendonitis and jarring in the knee, adding Sydney’s medical staff are confident it is not serious.
He also said it is unrelated to Franklin’s previous knee injury.
But the Swans will have to manage Franklin until the knee is right again.
“We’ve just got to be mindful he’s not doing a heap of training for us at the moment on the ground.
“He’s working really hard off (his) legs, but not a heap of training.
“We need to get him right at some point, but how long that will last I’m not too sure.”
