Carlton defender Nic Newman remains in the mix to play in the back half of the season despite suffering a patella tendon injury in the pre-season that was expected to see him miss the entire 2025 campaign.
The Blues haven't put a line through their veteran defender's playing prospects, even though the injury often requires a 12-month rehabilitation and is listed out for the year.
Now back training and nearing a return to main drills, the 32-year-old remains in contention to potentially play again before the season is over.
"(I was) pleasantly surprised," teammate Adam Cerra said of Newman's new training load.
"We definitely miss him out there. Since I've been here he's played some great footy for us and been a real leader.
"The other day I turned around and he was doing match sim with us, fully training.
"We're super excited for him to finish off his rehab and potentially play some footy this year."
Carlton and Newman could be relying on a finals campaign to warrant the risk of having the defender back in Michael Voss' side late into the year, with the Blues needing to strike a stronger vein of form and move into the eight before September arrives.
Their short-term prospects have been hampered by the loss of Coleman Medal winner Harry McKay, who has undergone surgery on a knee injury that will see him miss the next month.
Carlton are hopeful of having Charlie Curnow available for this weekend's contest against North Melbourne, while ruck-forward Hudson O'Keeffe has been sidelined for the coming weeks with a hamstring injury.
Uncapped tall forward Harry Lemmey is firmly in the mix for a debut against the Roos, potentially replacing or partnering Curnow in attack.
"We've seen the last couple of weeks young players coming in and taking their opportunity," Cerra said.
"Hudson O'Keefe (has been good) the last couple of weeks, Harry Lemmey has been playing some really good footy in the VFL
"We're not just purely reliant on tall forwards down there, our smalls have been getting to work. For us, it's next man up, we've got many capable players.
"We're also not relying on one or two forwards, we've got multiple avenues of scoring and that's how we want to play."
Carlton will face North Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday at 1:20pm (AEST), with a victory potentially placing them a win outside of the top eight.
