Out-of-contract Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer has a cloud over his future, with the club yet to make it known whether they will offer him a contract extension.
Kreuzer fractured the fifth metatarsal in his foot in the Blues' Round 1 clash against Richmond that was likely to sideline him for around four months.
The 31-year old is on the mend and will join the club when they head back to their Queensland hub after completing quarantine.
The Blues have two more games in Perth before heading back to Queensland.
While Kreuzer is progressing well from the fracture, senior coach David Teague said with only seven games remaining, a return for the ruckman this season is unlikely.
"I am not sure. It depends how he progresses. He has been progressing pretty well. It was a bit of a nasty injury ... we sent him to use the Alter G machine," Teague said.
"Now he has come back up [to Queensland] with his family. We will have to reassess when he gets back with the whole group where he is tracking but, to be honest, I am not sure if he will get back this year but we will give him every chance."
Kreuzer played 21 matches in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons, but has since had troubles with injuries, managing just the 12 and 15 games in the last two seasons.
Given the unknown with the size of player lists next season amid the AFL's financial squeeze, Teague made it known that the Blues are yet to make a call on what they will do with Kreuzer.
"To be honest, we haven't got that far. We don't even know what list sizes are," he said.
"Matthew has been a great player for us and, what I have loved about him this year, is he has stepped into a ruck coaching role when we had to release a few of our staff. One of ours was our ruck coach [Hamish McIntosh] and Matthew Kreuzer took over," Teague said.
"He has been great, the work he has done with Pitto and Tom De Koning and Callum Moore has been outstanding."
The Blues currently sit 13th on the AFL ladder with a 4-5 record and will look to bounce back against the West Coast Eagles on Sunday.