All eyes were on Franklin at the SCG on Wednesday, with great interest surrounding his potential availability to take on the Hawks, a club he helped to two premierships in nine years at Waverley.

Franklin has been recovering from some right knee tendinitis that forced him to miss last week's victory over the Brisbane Lions, and coach John Longmire said his key weapon needed to get through training on Wednesday to have any hope of playing.

Franklin moved really well in the 30 minutes or so spectators could view training before the media was turned away from the closed session.

Tippett has also been recovering from back and rib issues and will play his first match of the year, putting the daunting forward line of Franklin, Tippett, Adam Goodes and Sam Reid together at last.

"They both trained really well, so we expect them to play at this stage,” Longmire said after the training session.

“We were always going to see how things went at training, as I said earlier in the week.

“We saw how the training session went and all the players who had question marks trained quite well, so we expect them to be available.

“They obviously haven’t played much footy together, and with the other players as well, but it’s good to have them available.”

Franklin was one of the first to emerge from the change rooms on Wednesday, running a gentle warm-up lap with Ben McGlynn before having a kick-to-kick with the Swans' runner, 2005 premiership player Nick Davis.

Franklin seemed in very good spirits, looking totally unencumbered as he took some shots on goal from distance and moved freely, with no bandage on his troublesome right knee.

He didn't take part in all of the training, running more laps with some teammates as the majority of the Swans went through some handball drills.

But he has clearly done enough to indicate to the coaching staff he is ready for a return.

Prior to the training session, Swans midfielder Josh Kennedy addressed the media, stating "everyone's keen for him to play, the players included".

Himself a former Hawk, Kennedy also knows the match will hold special significance for Franklin.

"I think it'll be a pretty big deal for him," he said.

"Obviously the history he had there at Hawthorn is immense and he was a huge part of the club for a number of years, so I think it would mean a fair bit to him. No doubt.

"We're not going to pretend that it wouldn't and it's just another game.

"But at least he'll know that he's got 21 other players behind him, and hopefully we can make it pretty simple in terms of the role he has to play and not do anything too special."

Franklin missed last week with the knee he tweaked in round six against Melbourne, which saw him subbed out in the third quarter.

 

Leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins said Franklin had inflamed his patella tendon against Adelaide in round three and the fall against the Demons created swelling in the bursa at the front of his knee.

 

The issue adds to two other problems Franklin has with the knee, which he initially injured against Geelong in the 2011 elimination final.

 

That dramatic hyperextension left him with vulnerability in the joint, which led to a build up of synovial fluid that formed a Baker's cyst and forced him to miss games last year.

 

Now, he has picked up another issue, which complicates his ability to manage it.   

 

"It's almost three independent problems, which is not good," Larkins told AFL.com.au.

 

"Effectively, the knee is suffering multiple different injury areas, which is not necessarily a good thing that they're different.

 

"Each of them on their own are relatively simple to manage.

 

"But when you put them all together, they may give him trouble in the future."

 

Still, Larkins expects Franklin to benefit from a week off.

 

"My anticipation is they'll give him a reasonable work out – they won't try and bust him today, but they'll check him tomorrow and how he reacts in terms of swelling and soreness at the front of the knee," he said.

 

"They'll name him on the basis that they'll anticipate he'll be all right, assuming he doesn't break down today.

 

"It's a 'watch this space' one in terms of a potential late withdrawal, and I'm sure Hawthorn will plan for that."