HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson is set to give Josh Gibson the big job on Lance Franklin in his first game back from a serious pectoral injury.
Gibson hasn't played since suffering the injury in the Hawks' 19-point loss to the Sydney Swans in Sydney in round eight.
But with Brian Lake suspended, he will have to step straight back into a key defensive post in Saturday night's blockbuster between the clubs at the MCG.
"(Gibson is) pretty keen to play," Clarkson told Fox Footy's On The Couch program on Monday night. "He was pretty keen to play in the Adelaide game before the bye.
"He's had a serious injury, so we need to make sure that it’s totally right.
"Our docs have been pretty conservative with his rehabilitation to make sure that he's totally right. We've still got a lot of footy to play
"If he gets through training throughout the course of this week, then he's a big chance to play."
Franklin was the headline act when Hawthorn and the Swans met at ANZ Stadium earlier this season.
That night that Hawks used undersized defender Kyle Cheney on him. 'Buddy' proved far too good for Cheney, although he finished with a wayward 2.7.
With Franklin now in even better form, Gibson, who won the Hawks' best and fairest last year, is likely to be given the task of quelling his friend and former teammate.
"It's probably likely that at some point in time they'll play on one another," Clarkson said.
"But we've got Spangher and Schoenmakers down there as well, and also Stratton.
"So between the three or four of those guys, they'll probably have to share him, I'd reckon.
The Swans are sitting on top of the ladder and have won their past 12 games, and the bookies have them odds-on favourites to beat the Hawks.
"Whichever 22 they put out there, they're always very, very competitive," Clarkson said.
"We're hoping we can be a bit more competitive than we were last time against them."
