SUPERSTAR Swan Lance Franklin has been ruled out of Friday night's clash against Hawthorn.

Franklin, who has missed the past two weeks with a bruised heel he sustained back in round one, is also no certainty to return next week.

>>Tap here for full teams from 6.25pm

"While he did a little bit of training [on Wednesday], he was still a little bit tender," coach John Longmire said on Thursday afternoon after the Swans touched down in Melbourne. 

"He's pretty hard, he can play with injuries but we didn't want to push it too much and put him at risk so we decided to can this week."

Longmire said the wet, wintry forecast for Friday night's contest at the MCG didn't factor in the decision to leave Franklin out. 

"If he was fine last night and pulled up well today, he was always going to play regardless of the conditions," he said. 

"Unfortunately, he just couldn't get through what was required."

GET TEAMS ALERTS: Subscribe for free with the AFL on Messenger

Longmire added there was no guarantee Franklin would be fit to return to the side next week for their home Saturday night clash with Fremantle.

"Not yet but that's natural with this type of injury," he said.

"It's something we can't put a time limit on, we'll just take it from week to week and see how he comes up."