New recruit and former Dogs and Bombers forward Stewart Crameri has conceded defeat in his attempt to earn a round one berth against the Demons on Sunday.
The forward has admitted he will need more time to recover since returning from a on-going hip complaint.
He did play for Geelong's VFL side on Friday night, and will look to regain some much needed form and match fitness there before stepping into the AFL lineup.
"I don't think I'll be playing. I just probably need a couple more weeks before I get into the real action," he told K-Rock.
"Usually you get sore after the game. I started getting sore probably in the third quarter, so I probably need a little bit more game time before I play AFL."
The management of Geelong will closely monitor the workload of Crameri in the coming weeks, but will be desperate to get him on the park early in 2018.
"He's done quite a bit of running volume through the pre-season, so we've got a level of confidence around his overall condition – it's just match practice he's missed," Cats coach Chris Scott said during Geelong's VFL hit-out.
While Crameri grabbed 12 disposals, and kicked just three behinds, other fringe AFL players put their hands up for selection in the practice match.
The likes of Nakia Cockatoo, who spent majority of 2017 on the sideline with hamstring complaints, as well as Jordan Murdoch and Cory Gregson did their chances no harm in their final chance to claim a round one birth.
Crameri will get another chance this Sunday as the VFL side take on Footscray in another practice match.
