Ruckman Matthew Kreuzer is expected to be available for Thursday's season opener. Kreuzer, who rolled his left ankle in the Blues' final JLT Community Series game against Hawthorn, has been running freely this week. The Blues suffered a big blow at training last Thursday when Jarrod Pickett fractured his wrist, ruling him out for three months. Recruit Jarrod Garlett (shoulder) should be available to face the Tigers, but Darcy Lang (ankle) and Tom Williamson (back) face tests. Veteran defender Sam Rowe is expected to return in round two after recovering from a reconstruction of his right knee. - Howard Kotton 

Orazio Fantasia is the big omission for round one, but the Bombers hope his knee injury won't keep him out for too much longer beyond that. Martin Gleeson will be out for 3-4 months with that ankle injury, while Jayden Laverde's hamstring strain should only see him unavailable for a couple of weeks into the season. The Bombers were keeping quiet on why Darcy Parish needed scans on Monday, but they were precautionary and he should be fine to play against Adelaide on Friday night. - Callum Twomey

Thursday's main training session will be a crucial one for Tom McDonald and Clayton Oliver. The pair were on light duties on Monday, but will ramp things up to try to prove their fitness for Sunday's game against the Cats. Oliver is the more likely of the two to play after copping a knock to the knee against St Kilda in the second JLT Community Series game. He still needs to train fully on Thursday to confirm himself as a certain starter. McDonald is in considerable doubt and is running out of time to be cleared for round one. - Ben Guthrie

Dion Prestia is almost certain to miss Thursday night's season opener. The premiership midfielder warmed up with the main group and took part in kicking drills on Tuesday before stepping away and completing his own short run-throughs. Bachar Houli stayed with the main training group and will undergo a late fitness test to determine his availability. Daniel Rioli will miss the early rounds as the Tigers get conditioning into the valuable small forward, while Nathan Drummond is expected to return through the VFL in round two after completing his rehab from a second knee reconstruction. Nathan Broad has been impressive on the track but isn't available for selection until round four. - Nathan Schmook