KANGAROOS forward Kayne Turner could resume his career-best AFL season as soon as Sunday, but oft-injured ruckman Majak Daw will miss again.
North Melbourne is also hopeful Coleman Medal contender Ben Brown will face Hawthorn despite being concussed in Magpie Brodie Grundy's heavily scrutinised tackle on Saturday night.
Turner, 21, earmarked himself as a footballer to watch when he played in the Roos' preliminary final sides in each of his first two seasons after coming off the rookie list.
But a series of hamstring injuries and a four-game internal suspension for a drink-driving offence kept him to just two senior games last year.
Turner bounced back with a vengeance at the start of 2017, kicking 15 goals in 12 games – second at the club behind Brown – and being ranked in the top six at North for tackles, inside 50s, goal assists and marks inside 50.
A posterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in the round 13 defeat to St Kilda cost him the next seven matches and robbed the Kangas of one of their most potent players.
North will monitor him this week before deciding whether he makes the trip to Launceston to take on Hawthorn or plays for Werribee against Williamstown on Sunday.
Daw, 26, has never strung together more than six AFL games, mostly because of persistent injuries. A foot problem is his latest ailment after showing some promise in a six-week stretch playing predominantly in the ruck.
Coach Brad Scott hoped the Sudanese-born athlete would be out for just one match, but the club's medical staff has already ruled him out for a second game, and it could be more.
Daw's year did not start well, suffering a meniscus tear in his right knee in a pre-season training drill that continued his horror run of luck. He also suffered a minor concussion in a training incident in April.
Daw has played 32 matches since North claimed him in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft in 2009 and is contracted until the end of 2019.