Franklin rolled his ankle during the Hawks' final training drill on Tuesday and coach Alastair Clarkson confirmed from Melbourne Airport on Friday that his star forward would not play.
"He was close [to playing]. We saw him this morning at the club and we didn't think it was worth the risk," he said.
"We don't mean to say that in a manner that we disrespect Brisbane as an opponent - that's certainly not the case.
"We just think that at this stage of the year it's more important that we get him fully right, so he'll be right for St Kilda next week."
Franklin and fellow forward Jarryd Roughead were both finishing up Tuesday’s training session with some marking drills when the mishap occurred.
Scans revealed there was no major damage, but a cautious approach will be taken with the star full-forward as the injury is to the same ankle he sprained in the lead up to the Hawks’ round-seven clash with West Coast.
“They were just doing some marking practice at the end of training. Those things happen in footy and if you worried about injuries, you’d never train so we’re disappointed that he’s going to miss a game in that sort of manner but we’re fortunate it wasn’t more serious,” Clarkson said.
All three emergencies named on Thursday night - Brad Sewell, Jordan Lisle and Shane Savage - boarded the flight, with Clarkson undecided on who would replace Franklin.
Clarkson admitted it was a difficult task dropping out-of-form midfielder Sewell for Saturday’s game, but he was unsure if the premiership player would get a reprieve tomorrow.
“He’s a pretty decorated player for our footy club,” Clarkson said.
“But we just don’t think he’s being in the type of form that we expect from him in the last six to eight weeks. He may get a reprieve tomorrow and come into the side or he may not.”
Sewell has struggled to find the career-best form from 2009, which saw him poll an equal club high 13 Brownlow votes last year.
He led the Hawks in hard-ball gets and was averaging around 26 disposals a game, an average which has plummeted this year to 18 touches a match.
“It’s a clear message to him and others in our side that we need to be performing at our capabilities and I don’t think Brad has done that over the course of the last six to eight weeks,” Clarkson said.
“He hasn’t been able to generate the same sort of clearances and impact on games that we expect from a guy of his calibre. He’s got tremendous character and he’ll bounce back from this whether he plays tomorrow or not. We expect a greater output from him and we hope that will happen in the last part of the season.”
Skipper Sam Mitchell returns after missing last week’s narrow loss to Geelong with a fractured hand, and will wear a glove with padding.
