As he draws closer to his 35th birthday, Gary Ablett's stunning form is making it hard for Geelong to justify resting the AFL great.
The Cats still intend to give Ablett a spell at some point, but his renaissance up forward has effectively put those plans on hold.
Over the past fortnight, Ablett - who made his name as a midfielder but is following the well-trodden path of finishing his career in the forward line - has booted five goals and averaged 26 disposals and eight inside-50s per game.
With Ablett set to turn 35 on May 14, Geelong coach Chris Scott says the dual Brownlow Medallist's performances have complicated plans to give him a rest.
"It will happen at some point," Scott told reporters on Thursday.
"There's a whole lot of data points that go into that decision ... the information we have now is obviously more relevant and more important.
"The message we'd like to convey - and we don't feel we need to protect it necessarily - is that Gary and a group of players will be managed throughout the year. We don't know exactly when that's going to be. We've got no idea, but it's coming.
"We've got a strong history of trying to look after our players and if that weakens our team temporarily, we think that's a better mistake to make then running a guy into the ground and having him not at his best later in the year."
Another player exceeding expectations for the ladder-leading Cats is Esava Ratugolea.
The young ruck-forward has played every game this season and made a strong impact while coming back from a broken leg.
"It was a serious injury," Scott said ahead of the Cats' clash with Essendon on Sunday.
"If you layer on top of that the fact that he's played (14) games in his career ... then we think he's been much more than just pretty good for us.
"We don't have any intention of just squeezing the lemon with Esava, we're going to be a little bit careful with him. But his form last week was really promising."
The Cats' stocks are set to be further bolstered with Lachie Henderson (foot) and Scott Selwood (hamstring) set to play reduced minutes in the VFL.
But the club will take no risks with exciting youngster Nakia Cockatoo (knee), who Scott said was unlikely to return until late in the season.
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