Gary Ablett is 'shattered' at being ruled out of the Victorian squad for Saturday's Hall of Fame Tribute match against the Dream Team, according to his club and state coach, Mark Thompson.
Scans on Ablett's calf revealed a small tear that may keep the dynamic midfielder sidelined for a couple of weeks.
"It's not a big tear but it is a tear and that was hence the reason that he didn’t play for Geelong last weekend and why he's not playing this week," said Thompson after his squad was put through a light training run at the MCG on Thursday morning.
"He had dreams of representing Victoria like his father and wanted to have a real impact and play with some great players - I think he's pretty shattered that he's not been given that opportunity."
Thompson said Big V captain Jonathan Brown and veteran forward Brad Johnson would be given time to prove their fitness from a quad strain and general soreness respectively, though the coach rated Nick Dal Santo who has several small complaints as 'more unlikely' to come up.
"The pleasing sign is that (Brown) got through the training session - he kicked the ball, ran, changed direction, feels pretty good," Thompson said.
"He's got to do a few strides now and if he pulls up well in the morning we'll give him the big green light."
"(Johnson) has been playing under duress and has a few niggles … but we'll just get the doctors to look at him tomorrow and make a decision."
"But certainly if he's fit, he wants to play - that's why he's here and we'll give him that opportunity."