Speaking after the Roos' thumping 87-point win over the decimated Brisbane Lions, North coach Brad Scott indicated the sparkling midfielder is no certainty to line-up against Geelong in round 10.
"I have to speak to the doctors. We've got a meeting on Monday, but we've got some more information around what's ailing him at the moment," Scott said.
"But he's still a bit sore, so look, he's a chance but he's not a certainty. But hopefully we'll be able to give you some more information as to how long he'll be early next week."
Wells hasn't played since North's bitterly disappointing round five loss to Collingwood, a defeat which sparked an up-and-down patch of form that included a stunning win over Fremantle in Perth before a dismal 43-point loss to Gold Coast.
'Nek minnit' no-no
North bounced back against the Lions, who were desperately weakened by the late withdrawals of club champions Tom Rockliff and Joel Patfull, but need to prove themselves worthy finals contenders in a tough run.
Following the Cats clash, North travels to face West Coast, before facing Richmond and then the Crows at Adelaide Oval.
While acknowledging the next month is "important", Scott pointed out that the opposition the Roos face is less relevant than the side which turns up for North.
Winning the contested ball is North's mantra and the Roos outmuscled the Lions' cubs 146-88 for hard-ball gets on Saturday.
"It's pretty clear for us that when we do that we're pretty competitive, but when we lose that statistic badly – like most teams – we fall away," Scott said.
"So the outcome this year at times looks like we've been a bit inconsistent and that's a fact, we can't shy away from that, but it's around that contest that we were looking to improve today.
"We've had some really good wins this year but we've had some terrible losses, and the terrible losses correlate with those particular statistics."
North dominated the midfield battle without the help of Ryan Bastinac who had just two touches after coming on as the substitute to start the final term.
Scott backed the struggling 22-year-old mid-week to rediscover his best form and denied handing him the green vest against the Lions was a message.
"No, we probably made a mistake last game - we had Luke McDonald as our sub and he didn't have much impact when he came on so we really wanted another midfielder to come in as the sub," he said.
"It fell to 'Basty' this week. One thing you can be pretty sure of is it probably won't be him next week."
Aaron Mullett was a late withdrawal for the Roos with a back-related hamstring. Scott said it was precautionary and Mullett could have played, but the coaching staff decided to reward Scott McMahon's strong VFL form instead.
Twitter: @TravKing_AFL
North bounced back against the Lions, who were desperately weakened by the late withdrawals of club champions Tom Rockliff and Joel Patfull, but need to prove themselves worthy finals contenders in a tough run.
Following the Cats clash, North travels to face West Coast, before facing Richmond and then the Crows at Adelaide Oval.
While acknowledging the next month is "important", Scott pointed out that the opposition the Roos face is less relevant than the side which turns up for North.
Winning the contested ball is North's mantra and the Roos outmuscled the Lions' cubs 146-88 for hard-ball gets on Saturday.
"It's pretty clear for us that when we do that we're pretty competitive, but when we lose that statistic badly – like most teams – we fall away," Scott said.
"So the outcome this year at times looks like we've been a bit inconsistent and that's a fact, we can't shy away from that, but it's around that contest that we were looking to improve today.
"We've had some really good wins this year but we've had some terrible losses, and the terrible losses correlate with those particular statistics."
North dominated the midfield battle without the help of Ryan Bastinac who had just two touches after coming on as the substitute to start the final term.
Scott backed the struggling 22-year-old mid-week to rediscover his best form and denied handing him the green vest against the Lions was a message.
"No, we probably made a mistake last game - we had Luke McDonald as our sub and he didn't have much impact when he came on so we really wanted another midfielder to come in as the sub," he said.
"It fell to 'Basty' this week. One thing you can be pretty sure of is it probably won't be him next week."
Aaron Mullett was a late withdrawal for the Roos with a back-related hamstring. Scott said it was precautionary and Mullett could have played, but the coaching staff decided to reward Scott McMahon's strong VFL form instead.
Twitter: @TravKing_AFL
