HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has revealed Luke Hodge is in danger of missing next week's clash against Richmond as he continues to struggle with the knee injury that has sidelined him since round six.
Hodge, 27, sustained the injury in a marking contest with St Kilda's David Armitage and missed the Hawks' next game against Melbourne.
He was not named in the team to take on Fremantle in Launceston on Saturday and Clarkson is uncertain when he will return to the side.
"He's still got some swelling in his knee and we just can't take a trick with it at the minute," Clarkson said from Melbourne Airport on Friday.
"We've probably got to get that re-scanned and looked at again early next week … because it's just not coming good quickly for us.
"He's certainly not going to play this week and he'd even be in doubt for next week too unless we can get the swelling out of that knee.
"We'll get that looked at and we'll have a much better idea of what's causing it to be so slow."
Hodge has played just two games this season after a persistent calf injury kept him out of the team's first four games.
The Hawks made just one change for the clash against Freo with Josh Gibson, who has recovered from an ankle injury, replacing Michael Osborne, who will be a long-term absentee after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament against the Demons.
Gibson's return is another positive for a back six that regained key defender Stephen Gilham last week after 12 months out recovering from a knee reconstruction.
"We haven't had that sort of height and stability in our back end for a fair period of time," Clarkson said.
"Since Gibson has been at the club he and Gilham have only played together [about] 15 times out of a possible 50 or 60 games, so to have both of them back there … it just gives us a little greater strength in the air down back than what we've had."
At the other end of the field, Lance Franklin's poor conversion rate in front of goal has been a hot topic in the football media after a poor showing against Melbourne, but Clarkson is largely unfazed by the issue.
"This debate is not foreign to us - this has been going on for seven or eight years," he said.
"What do you do? His conversion is probably not as high as what you'd like, but he's getting probably double the shots that most forwards are getting.
"We think a good game is just around the corner for him, but he's still helping out. Last week he kicked 3.7 and had 10 other scoring assists, so sometimes it's not just all about him kicking the goals - it's what he can do to help others get in the game.
"We'd love him to be kicking 7.3 instead of 3.7, but we're also pretty confident that's going to come in the next few weeks."
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
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Read hawthornfc.com.au's match preview, Looking ahead to Fremantle to see a player and fan's view of the game. Listen to the Round 8 Hawks-Cast with Lehmo and Dec featuring Hawks star, Lance Franklin. Check out this week's Dream Team preview featuring an underrated Hawk who has been delivering for coaches.
