KURT Tippett seems a certain starter but doubts still surround Lance Franklin's availability for the Sydney Swans' blockbuster against Hawthorn on Friday night.
Ever since the draw came out, the match has been pencilled in as a must-see event, with Franklin due to face his former teammates for the first time.
But the knee tendonitis that ruled him out of Saturday night's win over the Brisbane Lions has him still in doubt and Franklin needs to take part in Wednesday's training session to be any chance of playing.
"He's been improving each day, we'll have a chat about it again tomorrow at our medical meeting but we may not know any more until Wednesday's training whether he plays or not," Swans coach John Longmire told reporters on Monday.
"It's still a few days to go yet and we're a bit uncertain whether he'll be OK or not.
"It's been improving, whether he improves enough by Wednesday, we'll have that discussion.
"We'd expect him to do some training if he was going to play, so he'd have to do some training on Wednesday."
Franklin walked into the club during Longmire's press conference with a compression bandage on his troublesome right knee and the coach wouldn't put a percentage on the superstar's chances of playing.
"I don't know yet, mainly because with the tendonitis, day-by-day it does change a bit," he said.
"We're hoping by Wednesday it's better again."
Longmire was far more certain about his other big key forward, however, with Tippett almost certain to finally make his first senior appearance of the year.
Also struggling with knee tendonitis earlier in the season, Tippett then suffered a cracked rib in his comeback match for the reserves.
But he trained strongly on Saturday and is ready to make a welcome return to the Swans' forward line.
"Kurt's looking a strong chance," Longmire said.
"He did a hard session on Saturday and pulled up really well and at this stage he looks as if he'll be training on Wednesday.
"If he gets through that, as we expect him to, he'll certainly be putting his hand up to play."
Tippett's inclusion gives the Swans' forward line an extra boost, following the returns of Adam Goodes and Sam Reid in the past fortnight. However, an issue has now arisen in the ruck.
Mike Pyke picked up a minor hamstring strain against the Lions, which forced him to be subbed out in the second quarter.
The big Canadian had played 50 consecutive games and taken over the No.1 rucking mantle this year following Shane Mumford's defection to GWS.
At 201cm, Tippett can also back up in the ruck but Longmire won't risk him there yet following such a long layoff.
That leaves Tom Derickx as first-choice ruckman, with Lewis Roberts-Thomson in the mix to be brought back into the side as support.
Derickx spent three years on Richmond's list and managed just two senior games, both in 2012, before being picked up by the Swans as a delisted free agent.
He has proven a handy pick-up, playing six games and rucking the entire second half against the Lions on Saturday.
"He's been pretty good," Longmire said.
"He's still learning the game, people forget he only played two or three games before he got here, so in AFL terms he's actually quite young and raw.
"Sometimes the best way of learning is actually playing senior footy and he's been learning on the job.
"When Pykey went off just before half-time, we thought (Derickx) did a pretty good job and competed really well.
"That's a good start, (but) he's certainly going to be tested this week.
"To come up against (Hawthorn ruckmen Ben) McEvoy, (David) Hale and even at times (Jarryd) Roughead, they're a very flexible team."
Longmire said Pyke would likely only miss one week.
