North Melbourne forward Cam Zurhaar has been ruled out of this weekend’s clash with Geelong as he recovers from a concussion received against Adelaide in Round 4. 

Zurhaar was concussed in the first quarter and did not return, immediately entering the AFL’s 12-day concussion protocols.

North GM of Football Brady Rawlings says the new protocols implemented by the AFL are a welcome advancement in the treatment of head injuries.

“Player safety is obviously number one for us and the AFL … so this rule that’s come in is a real positive one for the whole industry,” Rawlings told North Media.

“Cam’s pulled up well, he’s symptom free today so pending him still being symptom free over the next couple of days we’d expect … he’ll be available for Round 6.

“We’ve had some experience with this new rule … as we’ve seen with Curtis Taylor earlier in the season and Ben Cunnington in the pre-season … we’ll just assess him day by day but he’s on track.”

Jared Polec, on the other hand, is set for a longer stint on the sidelines.

The wingman injured his hamstring in the Good Friday clash against the Western Bulldogs, and Rawlings says the club will take a conservative approach to his recovery.

“We’ll need to see a return to strength, we’ll need to see a return to training and get some volume into him before he hits any speed measures as well,” he said.

“It may take some time before he’s back available for selection, we’re probably thinking 4-5 weeks before he’ll realistically be able to play AFL again.

“You just can’t go into games underdone. We need to have a good block of training and get some evidence that way before we play any players in our side.”