The Lachie Neale guessing game is up and running and it poses the question - are the Brisbane Lions playing ducks and drakes with Geelong?
Neale is one of the Lions' best and most influential players and the club would love nothing more than being able to select the dual Brownlow medallist for Saturday's grand final.
But the 32-year-old injured his calf in the fourth quarter of Brisbane's qualifying final defeat to the Cats on September 5.
Images of a teary-eyed Neale after the game seemed to confirm to the footy world his season was over, which the club effectively confirmed in the days following.
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But then the narrative began to shift.
Last week, Neale boldly gave himself a 50-50 chance of making it to a grand final - if the Lions made it that far - while conceding "the rest of the medical fraternity are giving me about a one per cent chance".
Neale was then seen celebrating wildly with teammates after the victories over the Suns and Pies, with his beaming smile on Saturday night seemingly an insight into his prospects of returning to the field this season.
Coach Chris Fagan said repeatedly on Saturday he was shocked by Neale's progress, after he made it through searching training session on Thursday and Saturday, while Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph said it was now "extremely likely" the gun midfielder will play in the grand final.
There is also the possibility the Lions would like to give Geelong the impression Neale is going to play as Chris Scott would then need to put some time into planning for the damaging midfielder.
Amid a raging debate over injured players, particularly in light of Scott Pendlebury's disastrous two-minute appearance against Brisbane before he succumbed to injury, Kane Cornes had a blunt call over Neale's prospects.
"I admire him, I think he's tough, I think it's incredibly brave what he is doing," Cornes told AFL.com.au.
"But to think that Chris Fagan and the like would risk putting him out there, I think it would be the most reckless grand final selection call perhaps we've ever seen.
"They ruled him out for the season, remember, they gave him zero chance of playing again.
"He's popped his calf, he has torn his calf and in two weeks you are telling me that the club are going to risk picking him and the flow-on effects of that in many facets?
"Is he going to be able to perform? Is he going to let his team down? Is he going to get injured early like we saw with Pendlebury?"
Numbers keep flying around about Neale's chances and the Lions' footy manager Danny Daly has now put his hopes at 90 per cent, with a big caveat.
“He’s certainly surprised us," Daly told SEN. "He’s surprised the medical team and he is well in advance of where he should be in terms of that injury.
“He’s got to get through the training session (on) Tuesday, and if he gets through that and then the one on Thursday, there’s probably a 90 per cent chance that he’s ready to go.”
Neale's bid to play looms as the biggest selection talking point of a huge week, while Jarrod Berry (shoulder) is also considered a very outside chance of taking on the Cats.