TOBY Greene remains a huge doubt for Greater Western Sydney's crunch clash away to Brisbane this week after failing to get through the club's main training session on Thursday.
Even if the Giants skipper is named to play, he'd be no guarantee to line-up against the Lions as he battles to recover from the hit to his back that saw him subbed out of Saturday night's loss to Port Adelaide.
"He's still got 48 hours, so we'll give him every chance," said coach Adam Kingsley.
"It's just a knock. It was a good knee to his buttocks. It's a deep cork and it's just hindering his ability to run and move. That's why we subbed him and it just hasn't recovered."
In a boost, though, Finn Callaghan's place in the GWS side is guaranteed, with the gun midfielder returning after three weeks out with a shoulder injury.
And Stephen Coniglio might not be too far away from joining him in the engine room after training strongly again this week.
The veteran is now forecast for a return within the next fortnight from a nerve issue in his glute, barring any further setbacks.
While Kingsley dismissed the notion of his side's dramatic semi-final fade out to the eventual premiers last year as motivation, they will look to reprise their stirring round 22 win at the Gabba, this Saturday afternoon.
The desperate search for consistency at the Giants continues in the wake of last week’s disappointing defeat to Port Adelaide, as they once again struggled with a side that was hellbent on clogging up their use of the corridor and running game out of defence.
"Brisbane will be trying to take away our strengths just like Port Adelaide were trying. If we're allowed to play that overlap run game and handball with speed then we're at our best. Teams try to take that away. Some do, some don't," said Kingsley.
"We just prepare like we're going to bring our best and then if the opposition have stifled it, we look at how we're going to re-establish it.
"We've just got to find that touch more consistency. We're not quite there yet," he added.
Despite the dominance of Zak Butters, Miles Bergman and Connor Rozee in Canberra, Kingsley was happy with the way in which his midfield acquitted themselves, but says it's his side's ball use in attack that needs addressing this week.
"It's a combination of all of it. Speed of entry, isolation ahead of the ball, leading patterns ahead of the ball, skill. Where we're generating our shots and entries from. It's something that bobbed up last week and I'm expecting us to bounce back really well from that."
After an impressive debut last week in the absence of the injured Kieren Briggs, youngster Nick Madden will again lead the Giants' ruck, against either Oscar McInerney or Darcy Fort.
And Kingsley, who has put Briggs' place in the team under the microscope already this season hasn't ruled out Madden challenging hard for the number one ruck spot moving forward.
"Depends how well he plays. You don't change a winning team as they say, and while that might not necessarily be true, what we're finding out is that maybe we've got a whole lot more than just Kieren. Hopefully as a consequence they'll all improve," Kingsley said.
