Mystery surrounds the extent of the latest injury to Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield, who was hospitalised after his side's 38-point loss to Port Adelaide.
The Brownlow medallist was sent to hospital for observation after Thursday night's Adelaide Oval encounter.
Dangerfield was crunched in the back in a collision with Port's Dan Houston in the second quarter.
The Cats skipper continued playing for the rest of the match despite being hobbled.
"He got a knock and then he seized up after that," Geelong coach Chris Scott said post-game.
"I could say it's a back spasm or something like that but the honest answer is I don't know."
Dangerfield was making his comeback from a hamstring injury suffered on May 6.
And he's not the only fresh injury worry for the reigning premiers, with midfielder Tanner Bruhn suffering a shoulder injury against the Power.
Bruhn, who will soon have scans on an AC joint, was substituted in the third quarter.
The concerns are the latest worries for the Cats, now with six wins and seven losses.
Mitch Duncan, Tyson Stengle and Max Holmes returned to action against Port but ruckman Jon Ceglar was a late scratching because of a groin ailment.
Cam Guthrie (toe) and Sam Menengola (knee) are rated as out for the medium term on the Cats' vague injury list with key defender Esava Ratugolea rated as sidelined for the short term.
Premiership ruckman Rhys Stanley (eye) will play limited minutes in the VFL this weekend.
"The trend has been get a couple (of players) back, lose a couple," Scott said.
"And it's not an excuse and I hope it doesn't sound that way.
"But there is a really strong correlation around the competition at the moment, the teams that have good availability and good cohesion are playing well.
"We were a case in point last year where ... when we got them all back and they played together week after week, we hit our straps.
"And we're optimistic that can happen again."
But Scott said the injury woes were only "one factor" in the struggles of his Cats.
"It's not the whole story - 'oh, as soon as they get a bit of continuity in game time, you know, we'll be the best team in the comp'," he said.
"I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that there is room for optimism if we can get those guys playing together for a decent chunk of time."
