BLOW FOR SWANS —

THERE will be plenty of rain tonight at a brutally cold MCG, but no Lance Franklin to face old side Hawthorn.

The superstar forward, having won two premierships with the Hawks before heading north to Sydney, has been ruled out of the crunch clash.

Franklin, 31, has been spared the winter blast by coach John Longmire — but not because the conditions won’t suit his continuing foot issue.

“He’s pretty hard, he can play with injuries, but we didn’t want to push it too much and put him at risk so we decided to can this week,” Longmire said yesterday. “If he was fine last night and pulled up well today, he was always going to play regardless of the conditions.

“Unfortunately, he just couldn’t get through what was required.”

Franklin has missed three rounds because of a foot problem that has been attributed to the hard surface at Optus Stadium in Perth.

Speaking earlier, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said history told him tonight’s match would be a tight tussle — irrespective of Franklin’s unavailability.

Excluding an 89-point blowout at Homebush, the average margin between the two sides since their 2014 grand final has been seven points.

“We prepare a side for when he’s in it and when he’s out of it,” Clarkson said. “Like [matches against Geelong], so many of the games are really hard-fought encounters and pretty evenly spread in terms of win and loss and never much more than two or three goals separating the sides.”

Single-digit temperatures and forecasts of heavy rain are likely to make the Round 8 opener the first true wetweather winter classic of the season. There’s one form line that concerns Clarkson the most: Sydney’s record away from home.

“They’re travelling pretty well interstate at three and zip. We don’t want to make that four,” he said.