NORTH Melbourne's perennial Coleman Medal contender Ben Brown is unlikely to play a game before round one but remains on track to face St Kilda.
Brown (calf) is one of a number of Kangaroos stars, including Robbie Tarrant (foot), captain Jack Ziebell (calf) and winger Jared Polec (foot), who have been under an injury cloud late in the pre-season.
Tarrant returned and played parts of three quarters in last Friday's practice game against Melbourne at Arden Street but the other three are yet to be seen competitively.
Ben Cunnington is also nearing full fitness after missing last week's State of Origin contest with a hip complaint he sustained in North's first Marsh Community Series game against the Western Bulldogs.
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Scans cleared midfield recruit Aiden Bonar of any serious damage to the tight hamstring that caused him to leave the scratch match early.
Ziebell and Polec are more advanced than Brown but – barring a setback – the key forward and the coaching staff are still planning on him playing in the season opener and he has resumed running.
Brown kicked three goals against the Saints in a 39-point victory over them in round 16 last season and has kicked 21 in total across nine matches.
The 27-year-old's proved very durable, missing only four senior games across the past five seasons despite knee problems during that period.
The Roos complete their Marsh Community Series campaign against Sydney at Hobart's Kingston Twins Ovals on Monday but their VFL side will play a practice match between then and round one.
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Among the players out of contention for round one and beyond are Luke Davies-Uniacke (groins), Kayne Turner (foot), Kyron Hayden (Achilles), Flynn Perez (knee) and Ed Vickers-Willis (knee).
Neither Perez nor Hayden, who are both up to 12 weeks from being ready to play, has had a setback from their original injuries, but North's medical staff are taking a conservative approach.
There is no update on hard-luck midfielder Ben Jacobs (concussion), who is still out indefinitely.
