COLLINGWOOD forward Anthony Rocca is still a chance to play against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday, but midfielder Scott Pendlebury appears in some doubt.

Speaking ahead of his team’s clash with the Demons, coach Mick Malthouse said Rocca could yet come into calculations for a late call-up despite his absence from the named emergencies.

"These are the idiosyncrasies of selection on a Thursday night," Malthouse said.

"We don’t train [for the final time] until today.

"He’s trained very well but I’m not prepared to comment too much on our final 22 other than to say what’s been in the paper has been selected at this stage."

Even if he doesn't line up for the Pies, Malthouse said Rocca would definitely play at some level this weekend.

However, Malthouse wasn’t perturbed by the prospect of including him at the eleventh hour.

"You can become an emergency without incurring a fine," he said.

"You know rules are rules … [but] the rules are in place to have the opportunity to pick your best side.

"If someone pulls up lame or pulls up ill or whatever the case is you’ve still got the capacity to change it.

"It gets back to everything I’ve been talking about for the last 10 years. Sides should be picked on the eve of the game, and then you’d have less manipulation of who does and who doesn’t play."

Of greater concern for the Magpies is the fitness of Pendlebury.

He trained away from the main group on Wednesday and was missing from Friday's session, placing him in doubt for round two.

"Scott wasn’t out there. He’s a bit sore," Malthouse said of his ball-winner’s absence.

"People are sore. You’ve got to make sure they’re 100 per cent ready to go. We’ll weigh that up."

Heavy rain and loud thunder could be heard during Malthouse’s press conference, which might deter either team from including taller players – such as Rocca – in their line-ups.

And while welcoming Friday’s downpour, Malthouse remains wary of an opponent he thought was impressive against North Melbourne last weekend.

He said he could see similarities between Melbourne and previous Collingwood sides, which also encouraged Malthouse to turn to his young players at the time.

"It’s the unknowns that sometimes come to bite you," he said.

"I have a look at (Kyle) Cheney and (Daniel) Bell and (Stefan) Martin and (Ricky) Petterd back from his injury and (Neville) Jetta and (Jake) Spencer. We’ve got to be so careful that these players don’t slip underneath us.

"We know the capabilities of (Cam) Bruce, of (Brad) Green [and] we know what (Brad) Miller’s like … [they're] are all very, very good footballers.

"You couple that with some of these kids that are coming through … they are very, very exciting."