"Jon needs to work on his forward craft," Giants coach Leon Cameron said. "We know what he’s capable of, he’s kicked multiple goals at AFL level before. "He’s just got to find that form that made him a huge presence for us last year. All players go through this and I’m sure Jon will come out the other side as a better player." The Sydney Swans suffered a blow for Friday night’s clash against Hawthorn at the MCG with Franklin unable to be considered. The superstar forward is out with a bruised heel for the third consecutive week. Sydney made two changes with Daniel Robinson coming in and Tom McCartin - the younger brother of St Kilda’s Paddy McCartin - set to debut. Robbie Fox and Harry Marsh have been dropped by the Swans.

Hawthorn have made two changes with last week’s late omissions Will Langford and Ricky Henderson coming in for James Worpel and James Cousins. Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said Henderson had overcome illness. "He had a gastro bug. We got him on the Vegemite and toast on Sunday and Monday and he’s been able to get some decent grub into him over the last couple of days and he’s good as gold," Clarkson said. Lance Franklin won't play against the Hawks. Credit:AAP Franklin had seemingly been making progress and was firming to return to the Swans side, but Sydney coach John Longmire said the veteran forward would not face his former club. "He did a little bit of training last night but it got a little bit sore," Longmire said.

"It was still a little bit tender. We didn’t want to keep pushing it. I said at the start we’re not quite certain of his return date. We just didn’t want to push it too much." In South Australia, Adelaide copped more bad news with star midfielder Rory Sloane unable to be considered after re-injuring his troublesome foot. He will miss another fortnight. The vice-captain suffered a mild strain to the Lisfranc ligament, which the Crows say was slightly different to the injury that has kept him sidelined for the past three rounds. Essendon replaced Joe Daniher (injured) and Andrew McGrath (injured) with Orazio Fantasia and Shaun McKernan for Saturday’s clash against Carlton at the MCG. The Blues are bringing in Darcy Lang, Charlie Curnow and Jed Lamb for the injured Levi Casboult and omitted pair Andrew Phillips and Matthew Kennedy. Captain Marc Murphy remains on the sidelines. With Patton dropped by GWS, the Giants are bringing in big man Rory Lobb, Jeremy Cameron and debutant Isaac Cumming. Dylan Buckley and Nick Shipley are the other omissions. As expected, Gary Ablett comes back for Geelong, the two-time Brownlow Medallist among six players added to the Cats team for Sunday’s match against Collingwood: Ablett, Harry Taylor, Zac Smith, Wylie Buzza, George Horlin-Smith and James Parsons.