North Melbourne key forward Ben Brown is pressing his case to play in round one of the AFL season after overcoming a knee injury.
Coach Brad Scott says Brown was close to playing in the Roos' final pre-season clash against Greater Western Sydney in Canberra but caution prevailed.
"He probably could've played this week but we chose to give him another week," Scott told reporters on Thursday.
"But he'll play next week in the VFL.
"He's trained really well, really strongly, and we think he'll be ready for round one but we've just got to make a choice based on the other guys available.
"We've been pretty conservative getting back out into games because we'd prefer to prioritise training and he's done a fair bit of that."
Brown, the Roos' leading goal kicker last year with 41, required surgery after injuring his knee in a training mishap in January.
North have endured a difficult pre-season, with injuries to key talls Todd Goldstein, Majak Daw and Mason Wood as well as Jed Anderson, Ben Jacobs, Aaron Mullett, Taylor Garner, Sam Wright and others.
However all bar Jacobs and Wood are a chance to play against West Coast in round one.
Important onballer Ben Cunnington won't run out against the Eagles after accepting a one-match suspension for rough conduct against Hawthorn's Taylor Duryea.
The 25-year-old's knee appeared to make accidental contact with Duryea's head but he would have risked a two match suspension by taking his case to the AFL tribunal.
"We would have loved to have pleaded our case, that's for sure, but the system as it stands ... we don't get an opportunity to do that because it's a massive risk," Scott said.
"At the moment those line-ball calls generally go against you, so it's too big a risk to challenge it.
"Our legal advice - and trust me we sought a lot to see if we had a decent case - (was that) the rules (regarding rough conduct) are written in such a fashion that it makes it very difficult to challenge."
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