INJURY-CURSED St Kilda forward Paddy McCartin is continuing to battle symptoms from his most recent concussion, suffered almost two months ago in a pre-season clash with the Western Bulldogs.
That was his eighth concussion since 2014 and the 23-year-old could miss the entire season.
Saints head physio Andrew Wallis told the club website the knock from teammate Ben Long in a marking contest was still having an effect on the No.1 draftee from 2014.
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"Paddy McCartin is still symptomatic from his head knock that he received in the JLT Series and we're still unable to put a timeline on his return," Wallis said.
Similarly, there's still no update on when prized recruit Dan Hannebery will take to the field as St Kilda looks to rebuild his body.
"He's running really well and most importantly, with a lot of consistency. He actually travelled to Canberra with the team last week and did some solid work up there, which is really encouraging," Wallis said.
"It's a bit hard to put an exact timeframe on him but we're really liking what we're seeing from Dan at the moment, so fingers crossed he continues to go well."
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There were fears backman Jimmy Webster suffered a broken left hand in last Saturday's loss to Greater Western Sydney but he will face West Coast at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
"After some investigations, he's been cleared of any serious damage, so he'll play on the weekend," Wallis said.
Captain Jarryn Geary hopes to have his 30 stitches removed on Wednesday after compartment syndrome in his right thigh.
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"His wound's healed really well. He probably has the stitches out tomorrow actually. He's back in the gym, he's on the bike and we look towards running next week, so we'll just monitor how he goes," Wallis said.
That bodes well for the heroic backman. Early estimates saw the 30-year-old missing as few as four weeks, assuming all went to plan, with a longer timeframe out if the wound didn't recover as hoped.
Key defender Jake Carlisle is eyeing off a comeback within the next two months after a back operation.
"His running's going really well," Wallis said.
"He's transitioned from the Alter-G, which is the anti-gravity treadmill, into running outside, so that's really encouraging. He's been in the gym for a few weeks now."
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Last year's No.4 pick Max King could resume from a right knee reconstruction in the VFL on Sunday afternoon against Collingwood at Victoria Park, while defender Oscar Clavarino is also a chance to feature after having an operation for right ankle syndesmosis sprain in February.
Feisty forward Jack Lonie was on the exercise bike on Tuesday, a week after going under the knife for ligament damage to the lateral side of his right knee.
Backman Logan Austin has begun doing weights following left shoulder surgery.
