Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna rates Gary Ablett an '80 to 90 per cent' chance of overcoming a knee injury in time for their clash with Richmond this weekend after training freely on Wednesday morning.
Ablett did not complete the whole session but warmed up with the main group and looked unencumbered by the knock to his right knee that sent a major scare through the Suns' camp in last Saturday's loss to Sydney.
He will face a full fitness test on Friday but McKenna fully expects him to travel to Cairns to take on the Tigers at Cazaly's Stadium.
"He'll take his place on the plane and have a run around on Friday. If he gets through that unscathed then he'll play," he said.
"If I was a betting man I'd think he's a good 80 to 90 per cent chance to play. That says a lot about him and his ability to recover from a nasty knock and get himself up."
"It'll be a huge boost for the boys and the footy club if he can take his place."
McKenna said he wasn't trying to fool Richmond over whether or not his superstar captain would actually take the field on Saturday afternoon.
"We're not about playing games. We're not trying to pull the wool over (coach) Damien Hardwick or the Tigers' eyes," he said.
"If it was sore and he wasn't playing he'd be staying down here so he can get it right and play the following week against St. Kilda."
Richmond have won just one of their last six games - a patch of poor form that began in Round 10, when they met Port Adelaide at TIO Stadium in Darwin.
In humid, energy-sapping conditions, the Tigers became just the second team to fall to the Power this season - though they will benefit from a far more hospitable weather forecast when they visit northern Australia for the second time this year.
But McKenna is not expecting a repeat performance from Hardwick's men this time around.
"We're under no illusions about how tough it's going to be and on the back of that Port game, if anything they're going to come out even harder," he said.
"I'm sure Damien and their match committee will look at that performance and say that's not going to happen up at Cairns."
"They'll look at us and our poor showing last week and think of it as a great opportunity to get back into the winners' circle."