GEELONG defender Zach Tuohy has all but conceded his current active record of 138 consecutive matches will end as he battles a knee injury into round one.
Sent for surgery after the Cats' finals exit in 2018, the Irishman has been confined to mostly cross-training this summer as he overcomes cartilage damage.
With 15 days until the season-opener against Collingwood, Tuohy is expecting to handover the consecutive games record to Port Adelaide's Justin Westhoff (123 games).
"Round one's going to be a race, there's no doubt about that," Tuohy told Krock on Thursday night.
"(I) haven't had a pre-season, basically, so it's just a question of how long it's going to take me to get up to speed which might be rounds two or three if it isn't round one."
"Fitness itself isn't a problem, it's just getting your legs used to the crash and bash of the running again which will come back really quick.
"I've made a lot of progress in the last few weeks especially.
"Obviously with this type of injury, change of direction stuff is what's last to come, the last few weeks that's felt pretty much good to go."
Meanwhile, teammate Scott Selwood's hamstring tightness has placed him in doubt to be fit for the clash with the Pies.
Selwood sat out his second consecutive JLT Series match against Essendon on Thursday night with a view to playing in next Friday's VFL practice match against Werribee.
With that clash scheduled for seven days before round one, the 28-year-old is in a fight to win his spot and force his way into Chris Scott's line-up.
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"At this stage I'll try and play majority of minutes (in the VFL) but if my physio's reading this he's going to crack it because we haven't had that discussion yet," Selwood said.
"I had tightness in my hamstrings, but it was in both sides which made it more of a good thing rather than a bad thing because you're able to back off the workload.
"I'm probably not as focused about that at the moment (round one selection).
"I'm enjoying being fit and trying to play my best footy while I'm fit, whether (that's) round one or whether a couple of rounds in, I'm not too stressed about that at the moment.
"I think we've got some really good young guys that played really well last week (against West Coast) that are fighting for a spot.
"It's important we reward those guys that are in form and make sure that's how we build our culture that you work hard, you play well, and you get rewarded.
"If I need to work hard and go about it that way I'm comfortable with that."
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Selwood added that it was the "most excited I've been for a footy season in a long time" after surgery had hampered recent summer campaigns.
The former Eagle is yet to play a round one clash for Geelong, with his last season opener coming in his final season in the west in 2015.
Selwood was on hand for the launch of the 2019 Country Festival which the Cats will host with Essendon at the MCG in round seven.
A country player himself growing up in Bendigo, Selwood had flashbacks to his past when he joined Powercor ambassador Ben Moloney and Essendon great Kevin Sheedy at the press conference on Thursday night.
"It was a little bit freaky, Benny Moloney and I played under-12 Vic together, Kevin Sheedy gave us our jumpers when we were in under 12s and it almost feels like a 20-year reunion," Selwood said.
Selwood and Sheedy were joined by Geelong club chief executive Brian Cook and his Essendon counterpart Xavier Campbell for the launch of the fourth annual match between the two sides.
