Hawk Brian Lake set for extended stint on sidelines; Lance Franklin in doubt to face old club

BRIAN Lake’s calf injury will see him forced to negotiate another contract, with Lance Franklin also facing an uphill battle to take on his old club.

NORM Smith Medallist Brian Lake’s recurring calf injury will see him forced to negotiate another contract, with Lance Franklin also facing an uphill battle to take on his old club.

Lake is sidelined with an injury that plagued him all pre-season, as sports medicos predict he faces an extended period on the sidelines.

Lake, 32, needed to play 15 games to trigger a clause in his contract for a third season after his wildly successful move from the Western Bulldogs.

The Hawks continue to be linked to Melbourne’s James Frawley and while they would likely offer Lake another one-year deal it might be on a smaller contract.

Sydney has its own issues ahead of Friday night’s ANZ Stadium clash, with Franklin still far from a certain starter.

Lance Franklin is battling a knee injury. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Coach John Longmire says Franklin didn’t train at all last week despite reports he is hopeful of playing.

“(We’re) not sure yet. He wasn’t able to do anything at all on Thursday. We will see how he goes next week.”

Kurt Tippett (ribs/knee) trained well on Saturday as the Swans beat Brisbane at the Gabba and is much more likely to take on the premiers.

Both Sam Reid (achilles) and Adam Goodes, in his second game back from knee issues, pulled up well and will play.

Lake’s coach Alastair Clarkson would only rule him out of next week’s clash against Sydney along with Sam Mitchell (hamstring strain).

But given how cautious the club was with Lake in easing him into an AFL return a month or more on the sidelines looks likely.

Clarkson said of Lake’s injury: “I’m not really certain with ‘Lakey’. It looked like he’d been shot and then he recovered really well once he got to the bench. “

ESSENDON says Jason Winderlich (knee) will miss a single game at most after a lucky escape against the Western Bulldogs.

Winderlich’s hyper-extended the knee in a collision with Adam Cooney and he did not return to the ground.

But Essendon assistant coach Simon Goodwin told Triple M on Sunday Winderlich had recovered extremely well.

“From what I can gather he’s pulled up really well. He walked into the club pain-free and it was really encouraging,’’ he said.

“He will have some scans but if he misses he might miss one (game). He will be back in the team really quickly.”

MELBOURNE forward James Frawley is in doubt for the Demons clash against the Demons after playing through a toe injury against Adelaide.

He had scans on Sunday, with captain Jack Grimes still confident he would recover quickly.

“He jarred his toe and was able to keep playing the game. The physios put them in a moon boot and it looks like overkill. He said after the game it was pretty sore but he thinks he will be right for this week,’’ he told 3AW.