Geelong coach Chris Scott admits the odds are against Rhys Stanley, but the ruckman's chances of squaring off against Melbourne's Max Gawn improve with every passing day.
Stanley has been sidelined with a calf injury since round 21 of the AFL but Scott told reporters on Monday he remains in the frame to help combat the newly-crowned All Australian ruckman in Friday night's elimination final at the MCG.
Almost a month will have passed since Stanley hobbled off the 'G with a re-occurrence of a calf strain by the time the elimination final gets underway.
"It has been put to me that we might roll the dice, but that's just the wrong language," Scott said.
"We won't roll the dice with him at all ... if he's fit we'll have great confidence that the medical staff feel he can get through a game and perform really well.
"If there's enough doubt there we just won't play him ... it's not a complicated equation for us.
"... It's a risk going into any game, it's a bigger risk taking a player who's got a slight injury query into a final and then even a bigger risk to bring him in against Max Gawn.
"If you listen to that the odds are probably against him."
However, Scott added Stanley had been progressing well at training and wouldn't need to jump through hoops at Wednesday's main training session to play.
The coach added to the intrigue around the Cats' ruck set-up when asked what he expected from Ryan Abbott, who would battle Gawn in just his fourth AFL match.
"If he plays," Scott replied, "we expect what we've got the last couple of weeks, which is a really good genuine contest."
Scott also has not ruled out talented youngster Esava Ratugolea, who looked rusty on the weekend in his VFL return from a broken leg.
The Demons, who qualified fifth, have taken much of the limelight ahead of their first finals appearance since 2006, but eighth-placed Geelong have quietly arrived in September in good form with a healthy list.
"We've got better availability and I think we're in better form than we've been at any other time this year," Scott said.
"We've had our challenges and I know others have too, but we'd much rather have some challenges throughout the season and have it all come together in terms of form and fitness at the end of the year.
"We're pretty comfortable with where we sit."
