Lance Franklin will miss a fourth consecutive AFL game with no clear signs of when the injured Sydney Swans superstar will return.
While Dan Hannebery may return from a groin injury to face Fremantle at the SCG on Saturday, Franklin continues to suffer from the bruised heel that's kept him out for the past three rounds.
Coach John Longmire revealed the 31-year-old hadn't been as close as initially thought in the lead-up to last weekend's Ben Ronke-inspired eight-point win over Hawthorn.
"We probably suspected that after last week when he couldn't get up," Longmire said on Monday.
"We gave him a go last week and he didn't get there, so he's not going to play this week.
"We can't give a definitive answer to (when he'll return) because it's a bruised heel and they can be quite tricky."
Franklin, who played through his injury for four games, had done enough early last week to cause optimism but was unable to participate in team training without pain.
"He can run on the treadmill, so he did a bit of training last week out on the ground, but that's when it got a bit sore and we pulled the pin and stopped him training because we didn't want to make it worse," Longmire said.
"He didn't do as much as what we'd hoped; he did the warm-up and a bit of the early drills."
Longmire said Hannebery was running and kicking fine and was a chance to play the Dockers if he could prove himself later this week.
