DUAL premiership player Max Rooke remains unlikely to play in Geelong's season opener against Essendon at the MCG on March 26, but mature-age rookie James Podsiadly is firmly in contention to make his long-awaited AFL debut.

Rooke, who kicked the first goal and the match-sealer against St Kilda in last year's grand final win, is battling knee tendinitis and in a race against time to be fit for round one, according to Geelong coach Mark Thompson.

"We'll have a pretty full list. Max Rooke might be the only one who doesn't get there at this stage, but there are still two weeks to go and a bit of time," he told afl.com.au. 

"Most of our guys have played two [NAB Cup and Challenge] games and we feel that's almost enough, so whether it is enough or not, we'll find out pretty soon."

Star ball-winner Joel Corey has also battled a knee problem in the pre-season, but was not named as a doubtful starter by Thompson.

Second-year forward Mitch Brown (leg) and rookie Tom Allwright (knee) have been ruled out for three and six months respectively due to injury.

Forward Mathew Stokes has been suspended by the club for a much-publicised off-field incident and is unavailable for AFL selection until round seven.

Although Geelong has a reasonably healthy list entering the season proper, Thompson said Podsiadly, who has been a VFL star in recent seasons, was a genuine prospect for round one.

"He's in the mix for sure," Thompson said of the 28-year-old former Essendon and Collingwood rookie.

Marcus Drum is also a chance to debut for his new club after being traded from Fremantle, where he played 22 matches from 2006-09.

"He's had a few [injury] problems and he's over them now and we're looking forward to working with him," Thompson said.

"Hopefully he fits in with the way we play and hopefully he has a good career here."

Overall, Thompson labeled Geelong's pre-season as solid, on the back of its second premiership in three seasons.

"We haven't had too many hiccups and we've stretched our boys as much as we wanted to and a lot of guys have got stronger, [particularly] the younger ones. A lot of the older guys have come back fairly fit and we've just topped them up and got them ready for the season," he said.

"We think we've recruited well and we thought about our plan and the fact that we've played late [into the season] in the last three years. That delayed our start, but we've taken that all into consideration and come up with a plan and at the moment it's looking pretty good."

Max Rooke is a $274,000 forward in this season's Toyota AFL Dream Team competition

James Podsiadly is a $77,800 forward in this season's Toyota AFL Dream Team competition