Ablett ruled out for Big V

Victoria has suffered another injury blow ahead of Saturday's clash with the Dream Team, with gun Geelong midfielder Gary Ablett ruled out.

Ablett, who turns 24 next week, had hoped to recover from a calf strain in time to emulate his father and pull on the Big V for the Hall of Fame Tribute Match at the MCG on Saturday night.

But the injury, which also forced him out of last weekend's win over the Brisbane Lions at Skilled Stadium, hasn't improved enough to allow Ablett to take his place in the team to be coached by Cats coach Mark Thompson.

The loss of Ablett, who was ruled out by Victorian medical staff on Thursday morning, follows the earlier withdrawal of Luke Hodge (hamstring), while skipper Jonathan Brown remains in doubt with a quad strain.

Thompson said after last Saturday's game against the Lions that he was hopeful Ablett and Brown would both come up in time but wouldn't risk either suffering further damage if not at 100 percent.

"If he's right to play then he should be entitled to play and we want him to play. But then again he's had a sore calf and missed for us will make it pretty unlikely that he will get up," Thompson said of Ablett.

And with Brown declaring himself fit to play when he arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday, Thompson said he expects the Lions champion to have a big influence if he does line up.

"You know deep down that if he puts the jumper on and if he's captain of Victoria that he'll probably have a reasonable game of footy," he said.

The Dream Team has lost several stars from its original squad as well, with Nick Riewoldt (knee), Chance Bateman (hand) and Simon Black (groin) ruled out last weekend.