Tom Powell, Josh Goater, George Wardlaw and Aiden Bonar will all face tests on Thursday as they look to claim spots in the senior side.

An ankle sprain sustained in the final term against the Demons in Round 7 saw young midfielder Powell miss his first game for the season last weekend but is now on track for the trip to Hobart.

"He (Tom) was sore last week but has turned a corner over the weekend and has had two running sessions with direction changing," head of performance Kevin White told NMFC Media.

"We'll assess his function at training on Thursday, but he's looking likely to return this week which is good news for Tom."

Defender Goater is closing in on a return to action after suffering a hamstring strain in the VFL last month, but will need to prove his fitness later in the week.

"He's cleared all this testing that we had from a strength measurement point of view with his hamstring and as long as he ticks off his speed metrics and fully trains Thursday, he'll be available to play this week," White said.

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An extra couple of days off has left draftee Wardlaw "pain-free".

Despite being originally named, the exciting prospect was a late withdrawal ahead of Sunday's reserves match against Sandringham due to lingering knee soreness.

"George was probably a day or two shy of getting up for the VFL game on the weekend," White mentioned.

"He was still pretty sore with that knee bruising he suffered last week. He had a good session on Tuesday … and he'll fully train on Thursday to be available for the weekend."

Bonar faces a test after leaving the ground in the third term against the Zebras due to tightness in his right quad, while Jackson Archer is working his way back from a groin issue.

"Aiden had a bit of quad tightness in his kicking leg on Sunday during the VFL game," White said.

"We took a conservative approach with him and he had a scan which showed a really low-grade strain, but he had a really good function session on Tuesday out on the ground.

"Jackson had some groin soreness couple of weeks ago that we were managing, and we felt from a high performance program that it would be best that he took two or three weeks out just to get some of his strength measurements up in the gym.

"At the minute, 'Jacko' will probably remain in a conditioning program over the next week or two to build that strength."

Ruck-forward Callum Coleman-Jones will be available for selection after progressing through the concussion protocols.