A "devastated" Lance Franklin won't take part in Hawthorn's last bid for a berth in the AFL finals after being found guilty of rough conduct at the tribunal.

The Hawks will be without their superstar forward for Saturday's virtual elimination final against Essendon - where the winner grabs eighth spot and the loser misses the finals - because of his bump on Richmond's Ben Cousins.

Franklin was suspended for two games after the tribunal jury ruled he could have tackled Cousins instead of bumping him at the MCG last Saturday night, leaving the veteran Tiger concussed.

Franklin maintained bumping was his only option and afterwards said he had 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."

Franklin's suspension means even if Hawthorn beat Essendon, they will play an elimination final without the reigning Coleman medallist.

But Hawthorn left open the right to appeal against Tuesday night's verdict, as their legal team was unhappy with the decision after tribunal chairman John Hassett said Franklin's bump was "not unreasonable" during his directions to the jury.

Hassett asked the jury to consider whether Franklin had the realistic option of tackling Cousins or contesting the ball.

Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans said the reigning premiers would seek clarification from AFL football operations general manager Adrian Anderson on Wednesday as they considered an appeal.

"It didn't go our way so it's a very disappointing result for us," Evans told reporters.

"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."

Franklin's guilt hinged on whether he could have applied a tackle on Cousins instead of a bump, as the latter resulted in high contact given the Hawk is 16cm taller than his opponent.

Player advocate David Denton SC said Franklin had 0.4 of a second to react as Cousins ran towards him, and even attributed part of the contact to the ball carrier.

"It was more of a collision, they both came together and it was inevitable," he said.

But AFL legal counsel Jeff Gleeson SC said even though Franklin had been wrong-footed when Cousins initially fumbled the ball, he could tackled.

"If it looks like a bump watching the game ... then it's probably a bump, we don't need to over-finesse these things," Gleeson said.

Franklin said he braced himself for impact when he realised he would make contact with Cousins, but "couldn't have done anything else" because it "happened so quickly".

But he admitted his contact was high.

A report from Richmond doctor Greg Hickey said Cousins took no further part in the game, and was concussed for 30 minutes after the incident. Cousins is expected to be available to play West Coast on Friday night.

The suspension reinforces the view that high contact is prohibited even when players apply textbook bumps.

The AFL clarified bumping rules during the pre-season competition, when Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell laid a shirtfront on West Coast's Patrick McGinnity, which left the Eagle with a broken jaw.

Maxwell was suspended for four games, but was cleared on appeal, which prompted the AFL action.

The changed rule states players can be reported if they make contact to an opponent's head or neck, and if they could have tackled or contested the ball.

Previously the rule stated players could be reported if the circumstances were unreasonable.

Franklin's suspension means Hawthorn could punt on the fitness of forwards Mark Williams and Jarryd Roughead, who are both recovering from knee injuries.

The case was the only one heard at the tribunal, as North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow and Melbourne's Mark Jamar were fined $1,950 each for making contact with an umpire.

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