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Recalled forward Ben Brown has suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of North Melbourne's AFL defeat to Geelong at the Gabba.
North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw has his fingers crossed that scans will deliver good news for Ben Brown, whose AFL return ended in painful and premature fashion at the Gabba.
Brown twisted his left knee, which was already strapped, while being tackled by Geelong defender Mark Blicavs in the first quarter on Wednesday night.
The key forward, who was dropped last week, grimaced in pain after the incident and played no further part in the contest that North lost by 33 points.
"I haven't been told anything yet. He was up and about on the bench, which was a good sign," Shaw said.
"We'll have to wait and see what it looks like, but fingers crossed it's not too bad.
"It was really disappointing and put us on the back foot a little bit with our rotations."
Brown's manager Adam Ramanauskas suggested on ABC Radio that his client had been playing with bone bruising in his knee and the tackle had "stirred" it up.
"We all carry stuff when we're playing footy. Benny's had some knee issues but nothing that has been substantial," Shaw said.
"He was available, fit and ready to play this week."
Brown comes off contract at the end of this season and his future has been a topic of speculation throughout 2020.
"I wouldn't say we were close (prior to the league-wide contract freeze). There was still some real sticking points in our negotiation that we were arguing about," Ramanauskas said.
Shaw had indicated on Tuesday that Brown "needed" to be axed as he attempted to reclaim the form that almost netted last year's Coleman medal.
Nonetheless the Kangaroos, whose injury list is headed by hamstrung captain Jack Ziebell and star midfielder Ben Cunnington, can ill afford to have one of their more experienced players on the sidelines for a long stretch.
"The injury list isn't fantastic," Shaw said.
"We had to manage a few guys this game.
"We'll probably have to make some changes for the next game."
