Axed North Melbourne spearhead Ben Brown could spend another match on the sidelines, with coach Rhyce Shaw not guaranteeing when he will return.
Brown joined Jared Polec in somewhat surprisingly being dropped last week ahead of Saturday's victory over winless Adelaide that ended the Kangaroos' six-match losing run.
The returning Majak Daw replaced Brown in North's attack, alongside Nick Larkey and a bunch of other kids, including Bailey Scott, Curtis Taylor, Jack Mahony and Cam Zurhaar.
Taylor will miss the next three weeks with a knee injury from the Crows game, and Shaw predicted multiple changes as they prepare to play Geelong on Wednesday, then Melbourne on Sunday.
"We're open to everything at this stage. We've got two four-day breaks, so we've got to make sure our team is fresh and ready to go for each of those games," Shaw said.
"We've got guys sitting there waiting to play, so we've got to make decisions on what that looks like and those two players (Brown and Polec) will certainly play a part, whether it be this game, the next game or the game after.
"But we'll work through that today and see how it pans out and what we think is right for our team to play against Geelong."
Shaw confirmed again that Brown was dropped "based on form" – rather than for personal reasons – but had taken the news well and "needed" this to shake him out of his form slump.
Brown kicked only eight goals in the first eight rounds.
"They're two talented individuals and they won't be long out of the side, I wouldn't have thought," he said.
Shaw said some of his players "haven't got the ability" to play off such a short break between games but declined to reveal who they were ahead of selection on Tuesday night.
However, Daw has pulled up well after his first senior game in almost two years.
"Whether it's one, two, three or four (changes), I'm not quite sure yet – but there will be changes," Shaw said.
"It's challenging from a coaching perspective, because you want to keep your side as stable as possible.
"But there are some great opportunities there for guys when their time comes, because of these short breaks … and I think that's the best part about this season."
Players such as Will Walker, Tom Murphy, Marley Williams, Mason Wood, Ed Vickers-Willis and Lachie Hosie could come into contention as a result.
Captain Jack Ziebell, Taylor Garner and Dom Tyson remain out injured.
Meanwhile, North Melbourne football boss Brady Rawlings is still hopeful the club can host games in Tasmania this season despite that state's delaying its borders opening until at least August 31.
