GEELONG hasn't given up hope that ruckman Trent West will be fit to take on Hawthorn on Easter Monday, but a round two or three return appears more likely.

The majority of Cats players are currently enjoying a five-day break from the club, with a number using the time to tackle Tasmania's famous Barnbougle Dunes golf course.

However West has been slogging it out in running sessions at Simonds Stadium, testing out his knee that required surgery only three weeks ago.

"Medically, they're extremely confident. But given there's still almost two weeks until we play, we've just got to see how he trains," Cats coach Chris Scott told AFL.com.au on Wednesday.

"He hasn't been ruled out. Put it that way."

Two of Geelong's other injured ruckmen, Nathan Vardy and Hamish McIntosh, have also stepped up their training loads in recent days.

"I was in there (on Monday) and there was only one of our ruckmen who was not running, and that was big Dawson Simpson, who has had back surgery," Cats skipper Joel Selwood said.

"But the rest of them are up, to a degree, to where they need to be.

"We'd really like them to all be available for round one.

"I think Westy's going to be thereabouts, but with Hamish and Nathan we're just going to take our time, and we won't put a round on it because they'll play when they're ready."

Vardy had hardly played at any level when he was struck down by a hip injury late in the 2011 season.

His hip is not such a problem anymore, but his progress has been stalled by groin soreness.

We have to be patient," Selwood said.

"We have seen some brilliance from him already, and we just hope that we can get some more of that in the future.

"I think he shouldn't be rushed. He's grown up a lot since his (hip) injury, and we look forward to him being a 10-year player for Geelong, not just a five- or six-year player."

Veteran defender Josh Hunt is also slowly rebuilding his fitness base after being struck down with glandular fever in January.

"With that illness, you just have to be careful about how quickly you rush them back," Selwood said.

"So he was touch and go to play last week with our reserves sides, and I think we'll see him probably come back through the reserves and play that way."

Trent West is a ruckman in AFL Fantasy. He averaged 68 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy hub.

Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol