Star Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin is out of Sunday's AFL match against Fremantle with a calf muscle injury.

While the Hawks will still start favourites, Franklin's late withdrawal is a major boost for the injury-ravaged Dockers.

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson revealed at Saturday morning training that Franklin would miss one to two weeks with the injury.

"He finished the game last week and didn't even report an injury to the medical staff," Clarkson said.

"It just got a little bit sore on the Tuesday and we had it scanned, it showed a little bit of a bleed.

"We still don't know whether that bleed was due to a slight strain or a corky.

"We'll have to see how it settles over the course of the next week, but we don't think it's serious."

Clarkson said the Hawks had hoped Franklin might recover in time, but they would not risk him.

"We thought he was going to be right and we tried to train him yesterday, but he just wasn't any good, the way he's pulled up this morning," Clarkson said.

"He was very, very close to being able to play, but with calves if you don't respect them, they can turn into four or five-week injuries."

Franklin's surprise absence means Jordan Lisle will finally make his AFL debut after being a regular team emergency since last season.

Former Melbourne defender Kyle Cheney will play his first game for the Hawks and Clinton Young returns to the side.

Young comes in for midfielder Chance Bateman, who could miss up to six weeks after hurting his ankle last Sunday in the win over the Western Bulldogs.

Clarkson said Young would take Bateman's role as a "run and carry" midfielder.

"More so than who the player is, it's the role itself and we're fortunate we have someone like Youngy who can come in and fulfil that role quite capably," Clarkson said.

Fremantle brought in Clancee Pearce and Zac Clarke.

There has been some talk in the media this week about how the Hawks want to atone for last year's elimination final, which the Dockers won easily.

But Clarkson said the greater emphasis was continuing Hawthorn's strong start to the season, which has them third with a 7-2 record.

"It's not really a grudge match as it is just trying to win another game of footy, to really launch the second half of our season," he said.

Meanwhile, Clarkson said the surprise resignation of recruiting manager Chris Pelchen was related to the club's long-term player strategy.

The Hawks announced on Friday night that Pelchen, their long-time recruiting boss, had left.

"I don't think it was as sudden a resignation as Foxy (chief executive Stuart Fox), Mark Evans (Hawks football manager) and Chris sitting down and discussing what 2012, 2013 and 2014 were going to look like," Clarkson said.

"At this point in time, neither Chris nor the club could commit to what that three or four-year period was going to look like.

"Chris thought it was in his best interests to hand in his resignation, but he's been a great contributor to our footy club, we worked as a really close-knit team."

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