Lance Franklin to face video scrutiny
After being the centre of attention on Saturday night, Hawthorn star Lance Franklin will now face some unwanted scrutiny from the AFL match review panel.
Franklin did everything as the Hawks beat Richmond by 42 points at the MCG, kicking 5.6 and using brute force to brush aside Tigers defenders.
He also concussed Ben Cousins with a solid bump and the panel is certain to look at the incident.
Franklin's bump was legitimate, but it collected Cousins' head.
The big Hawks forward also received plenty of physical attention and finished the match with a bloodied tooth.
Just before the final siren, he gave away a 50-metre penalty and it is understood he had sworn at the umpires for not noticing some contact to his face.
Apparently the same tooth that was knocked out a fortnight ago in Launceston was loosened in the clash.
"We're pretty pleased with the way he (Franklin) went. He generates a lot of shots on goal," Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said.
"He was the brunt of a fair amount of attention tonight because the opposition knew he was a pretty key target for us, obviously, with (Jarryd) Roughead and (Mark) Williams out of our side."
Tigers coach Jade Rawlings said post-match that they would know in the next couple of days whether former West Coast captain Cousins will be fit for round 22.
Richmond will play West Coast on Friday night at Subiaco.
Meanwhile, Riley Milne became the seventh Hawthorn player to make his senior debut this year and this has been one positive by-product of their injury-riddled premiership defence.
The win kept Hawthorn's slim finals hopes alive, but Clarkson remains unimpressed by their form.
He thought there were some improvements on Saturday night, but it was still a scrappy game with too many turnovers.
"It was probably reflective of two sides who aren't travelling as well as they should. Both teams are playing a lot of young players," Clarkson said.
"We'd need to improve a fair bit on that performance to even challenge any of the better sides.
"At the present time, we don't deserve to be playing finals footy with the way we've played over the course of the bulk of the season."
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