Franklin missed last week's demolition of the Brisbane Lions after he rolled his ankle at a mid-week training session.
However, he showed no signs of discomfort during a 30-minute session at Waverley on Thursday morning which coach Alastair Clarkson had earlier said was the last hurdle he needed to clear.
"He trained well on Tuesday and we've been really pleased with his progress," Clarkson said.
"He was pretty close last Friday ... but we just didn't want to take a risk and [wanted to] get him right for the last six weeks of the season."
The news isn't so good for ruckman Max Bailey who appears set to be put on ice for the entire 2010 season.
Bailey has made good progress in his recovery from a third knee reconstruction, but Clarkson is unsure whether playing the last few games of the season - probably at Box Hill - will best serve his long-term interests.
"Is that the best preparation for him for 2011 or is it to actually get a full pre-season?" Clarkson mused.
"He's done a fair amount of work in his rehab, but nothing beats actually starting a pre-season fresh, fit, firing and ready to go and then having a three or four month campaign to get yourself ready for match conditioning.
"At the moment that's probably the way we're leaning. We're probably more mindful of giving him a full pre-season, but we've been really happy with his progress after this reco and he's an important player to our structure if we can get him going."
Clarkson described Friday night's clash with the Saints as an important test for his resurgent side which is looking to cement a finals berth after a poor start to the season.
The match appeared to have an interesting side story after St Kilda coach Ross Lyon referred to Hawk Michael Osborne as 'Pinocchio' after he claimed former Hawthorn teammate Zac Dawson had been taunting Franklin via text in the lead-up to their expected duel.
Clarkson was quick to pour cold water on the issue though.
"Monday after a game is probably the most jovial players are in terms of just throwing out lines that don't have too much meaning," Clarkson said.
"It's been picked up on a little bit, but I think it was all tongue in cheek and a bit of fun. I don't think we're going to be thinking too much about Pinocchio when we run out there on Friday night."
On a more serious note, Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett again voiced his concerns over the surface at Etihad Stadium during the week.
Clarkson said he would allow his players to wear whatever boots they deemed necessary for the match with the choice made all the more difficult by the varying nature of the surface across the field.
"We've got no control over the surface. All we're probably trying to do is heighten awareness," Clarkson said.
"There's been a lot of drums beating - not just within our own club - but right across the AFL that the surface perhaps hasn't been of the quality and condition of some of the other surfaces around the competition.
"It's not up to us to determine whether the game goes ahead or not. That's up to the AFL but all we want to do from time to time is make the AFL aware that there are parts of the surface that aren't as good as perhaps some of the other grounds that we play on across the competition."
