Friday night’s AFL blockbuster between Sydney and Hawthorn may go ahead minus a couple of superstars.
The Hawks will be without Sam Mitchell for the next two months and key defender Brian Lake for up to a month after last weekend’s costly hit out with the Lions while Sydney will have to wait until the last minute to see if Buddy Franklin passes a fitness test.
The Swans will put Buddy, considered unlikely to suit up, through a fitness test Wednesday, but may regain Kurt Tippett in his absence for the big forward’s first game of the 2014 AFL season.
Mitchell was subbed out of the Hawthorn’s 145-point Saturday win after the opening term and will now spend the next eight weeks on the sidelines after being diagnosed with a serious hamstring injury, however the former captain does not require surgery.
The wet clash between Geelong and Richmond has resulted in both Brett Deledio and Matthew Stokes offered one-weeks bans by the Match Review Panel.
Stokes was cited for a hook to Tigers’ defender Steven Morris (1:05 mark of below clip) while Deledio was also given a week for a high strike on the Geelong small.
Deledio was playing in his first match back from a length stint on the sidelines with an injury, but his good record saw his original ban cut in half from two weeks.
Melbourne youngster Jack Viney was referred directly to the tribunal for a knock on Adelaide forward Tom Lynch, leaving the Crow with a broken jaw (0:55).
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