North Melbourne onballer Jack Ziebell is increasingly likely to take on Geelong as he continues to recover well from a bruised lung.
Ziebell, 24, sustained the injury in a heavy collision with Port Adelaide's Ollie Wines during Saturday night's loss and spent two nights in hospital under observation after experiencing bleeding in his lungs.
On Wednesday, teammate Drew Petrie rated Ziebell a better than 50-50 chance to take on the Cats at Simonds Stadium, but added his progress through Thursday's main training session would be carefully monitored.
"It'll be hard to stop Jack from playing," Petrie said.
"And the fact that we've gone from a Saturday night game to a Sunday game gives us an extra day.
"In the initial two days post the incident he's recovered really well. If it keeps tracking that way he's certainly a good chance to play."
Ziebell is no stranger to suffering injury or being suspended as a result of heavy collisions.
The hard-at-it onballer has run afoul of the AFL tribunal on three occasions, suffered concussion and other major collision injuries, such as a broken leg over the course of his 103-game career.
Petrie said that the Kangaroos were encouraged to attack the game hard, but added that Ziebell perhaps needed to adjust his approach in the interests of self-preservation.
"It's hard to pull a guy back, but I'd like to see him play more football and be injured less," Petrie said.
"So there's probably an element of him just having to draw back a little bit."
Daniel Wells is also a chance to return after missing last week's thriller against the Power with an Achilles strain.
Share
