Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly has said he would be prepared to stand aside if asked by senior coach Mick Malthouse to allow team-mate Josh Fraser to play his 200th AFL match.
But Jolly, who has displaced Fraser as the club's No.1 ruckman since moving from Sydney in last year's trade period, doesn't believe a tap on the shoulder is likely.
Fraser has been stranded on 199 AFL games since his last senior appearance against Melbourne in Round 12 and, with only two home and away games remaining, is running out of time to complete his milestone this season.
Malthouse has said throughout that the needs of his ladder-leading team must be paramount, but there's strong sympathy for Fraser's plight.
"It would be good to see Josh come up and play his 20Oth, but that will left up to Mick and the selectors," Jolly said.
Asked whether he would be prepared to step aside to free-up a spot for Fraser in Saturday night's game against Adelaide, Jolly said: "I don't think he (Malthouse) would do that."
"But I'm happy to play any role that's thrown at me to help the team out."
"We're not in the game for resting people for games."
"Obviously we've got two games to go and we really want to focus on finishing off strong to give us a chance for the finals."
The durable Jolly, who has been a fixture in the Magpies line-up this season, said his body was in good shape and that he'd pulled up well from last Friday night's clash with the Bombers despite finishing the match with a leg heavily iced.
"I'll be right to go this week," he declared.
"It was just a minor knock on the shin so it was fine."
"I feel great."
"The way they run training down there, it's really helped me out and everyone is ready to go and conditioning really well."
Jolly agreed the selectors will face a tough task this week trying to find spots for four regulars - Ben Reid, Leon Davis, Luke Ball and Tyson Goldsack - who missed the Essendon clash because of minor injuries.
"They all trained today so they're all up and ready to go," he said.
"We've got a strong list to pick from which is great for us heading into the finals."
"It makes players aware to play their role to make sure they're on their toes because we've obviously got blokes playing in the twos that are playing some good footy as well."