North Melbourne won't know whether Jarrad Waite will play again this season until the spearhead undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his hip on Wednesday.
North announced on Monday Waite would have an arthroscope to try to get to the bottom of a nagging hip problem that has sidelined him for all bar two games since round 12.
Roos coach Brad Scott was optimistic on Wednesday Waite would make "a pretty quick" return to the field but could not guarantee he would be back for the finals.
"I'm not even sure whether the surgery has happened yet or it's happening as we speak. We'll wait on the update," Scott said.
"But the decision the club made was pretty clear. We tried to treat things conservatively, the scans all looked pretty good, but there's something going on that we can't see on scans.
"So hopefully minor arthroscopic surgery will reveal the extent of any problem. That being said, symptomatically we still expect him to make a pretty quick recovery unless there's something that we certainly didn't expect."
Asked whether Waite would play again this year, Scott said he could not give an informed opinion until the club received the surgeon's report.
After returning from a week off against St Kilda last Saturday night, Waite lasted barely more than two quarters before his hip flared up again.
The former Blue would leave a huge hole in the Roos' forward line if he is ruled out of the finals.
He starred in North's two finals victories last season, kicking four goals against Richmond and three against the Sydney Swans, and was a central figure in North's 9-0 start to 2016, kicking 27 goals in that club-record winning streak.
Key defender Lachie Hansen has almost become the forgotten man of Arden Street this year, with the long-time senior regular playing just one AFL game, in round two against the Brisbane Lions.
Hansen's efforts to earn a senior recall via the VFL have been hampered by a significant concussion in May and a knee complaint last month.
But Scott said Hansen was "very close" to returning to North's team after impressing with Werribee last weekend.
"He'll most likely be in our squad of 25 this week based on his game for Werribee last week, but it was one of his first games back (from injury)," Scott said.
"He's just had a really wretched run this year with a variety of niggles, not one particular problem, just every time he gets over one little niggle he picks up another one.
"We know he's a quality player and he's a player who will make us a better side. We're really keen to get him back in as quickly as we can, but we've got to get him (match) fit first.
"It's just (about) getting some continuity of footy so that we're sure he can stand up to the rigours of AFL."
North has a host of players nearing returning from injury who face a battle against time over the next month to get back to full fitness and form ahead of the finals.
Scott said Shaun Higgins (knee), Luke McDonald (hamstring), Sam Wright (ankle), Ben Jacobs (foot) and Taylor Garner (knee/hamstring) were all close to resuming full training, when North would have a better idea of their likely return dates.
"Those guys are making really good progress," the Roos coach said.
"They'll do a bit of training today but probably look more to full training next week and then we'll be able to make a call on when they come back in and play."
