Geelong player Tyson Stengle's return-to-play timeline remains unclear, with Cats coach Chris Scott pressed about the forward's personal leave.
Scott was unable to clear up the situation at his weekly press conference on Wednesday.
“No I can't. And again, it's not my role to be across those things,” he said.
Scott's response was similarly limited when asked whether Stengle's absence was AFL-enforced.
“I'm not even sure that I'm empowered to speak about that. This is how grey these areas are, so it's best that when I'm unsure, I say less," Scott said.
“But to answer your specific question, which I think is a fraction unfair, like it's not my position to settle the nerves of Geelong fans.
“The situation at the moment, if people want more information, they probably should direct their questions to the AFL.”
Having missed sessions across recent weeks and with uncertainty around his immediate future, Scott was asked about his training program, and was similarly cagey.
“I'm tempted to say it's not your business, and speaking on his behalf, that's probably the position I take,” Scott said.
“We don't walk you through the training programs of our players. Everyone's on an individual program, and he's no different.”
Scott said he “genuinely didn't know” aspects of Stengle's specific situation and asked the media not to speculate.
“I think what I've learned over the years is to acknowledge the different roles that people have in these sorts of situations," Scott said.
"So I don't have a problem with the media speculating, but they are speculating with less information that I have, and I have less information than other people at the club have, who probably have less information than the AFL have.
“So it's reasonable to say that in this situation, more so than say Gryan (Miers' injury) situation, you're just asking the wrong person.
“If I had good information, I probably wouldn't tell you anyway, because I consider it to be private, but this is one where I genuinely don't know.”
Without putting a timeline on it, Scott expressed confidence that Stengle would return to his best after being part of the 2025 grand final side.
Scott also provided only scant details of Gryan Miers' knee injury, which the Cats will assess but is not at this stage going to require surgery.
He has been ruled out of this weekend's clash and it has been reported as ACL damage, though that has not been confirmed by the club.
“I understand it might frustrate some people, but I don't like speculating on the timelines, because it's very likely that you're going to be wrong. I just prefer to deal with the facts as we know them,” Scott said.
“It's a bit of a strange process, because I understand that I'm, at the moment, the spokesperson for the club. But in a way, I'm sort of not the best person to be speaking about it, because I'm not privy to the information that some of the others are.
“I don't like speaking for Gryan, and I don't think it's the clubs or the AFL's imprimatur to speak on his behalf as well.
“He should get a larger say on how these things are communicated. After all, they are private, personal medical information situations.”
Scott also indicated that Edwards would likely be rested at some stage after playing his first five games at the level in recent weeks.
"Logically, that would make sense. But we also prioritise the situation on the field at the time, more than sticking to this really linear macro plan," Scott said.
"I think the broad idea is that yes, we will be cautious with him, as we are with all our players for different reasons.
"Whether they be older and more experienced players, guys who have had a bit of a checkered injury history, or young players who we feel philosophically that we shouldn't hammer into submission.
"But in the short term, we want to have a good reason to take a guy like Mitch out proactively, we just don't think that is now.
"It is likely that will be at some point, but the good news is that he is going really well."
