Geelong coach Chris Scott is confident speedster Travis Varcoe will play again this season despite undergoing a second bout of foot surgery on Monday.
Varcoe, who first injured his foot during the pre-season, has not played a single game - at any level - this year.
He had been training in recent weeks and was close to a return until this latest setback.
That led to speculation that the two-time premiership player would join Daniel Menzel on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
But while Scott was reluctant to put a date on his return, he is expecting the 24-year-old to start running in three weeks and play again later in the year.
"He just couldn't make that last step," Scott told the AFL website.
"I guess the positive of this procedure is that the medical staff and the experts think this will mean that he can make that final step.
"In terms of how good he's going to be when it really counts, that's just so far away and such an unknown that I won't comment any further on that."
Geelong face a tough assignment against Sydney at the SCG on Friday night with the Swans set to welcome back star player Adam Goodes.
But the Cats will also be boosted by the return of James Podsiadly, who missed the win over Carlton with a hip complaint, and Allen Christensen for his first match since Round 7.
The only casualty is Mathew Stokes, who will miss with a hamstring injury, leaving Scott with a welcome selection dilemma.
"We're really positive about the way their rehab has gone, so we'd think they would be likely and available for selection," Scott said.
"But we have a few dilemmas this week. We've got wide-open availability and some players that are coming into pretty good shape.
"David Wojcinksi came back for our last game and we think he'll be better again this week."
Meanwhile, the club has yet to decide on what action they will take against one of their players who appeared in the Geelong Magistrates' Court on Tuesday after being arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman last Friday.
"The club's current position is that we've got to work through all the issues and take our time to make sure we understand it really clearly," Scott said.
"We won't be rushed into making a poor decision. There's a lot of information that we still need to gather.
"We're going to make sure that we do our due diligence and work through that slowly and thoroughly, and we'll let everyone know when we know the outcome of that.
"It's a bit of an unknown. We might work through it really thoroughly and we might know the answer tomorrow. It might take another week."