DALE Thomas will play against Geelong next Friday night after missing Collingwood's trip to face the Brisbane Lions but Darren Jolly's availability won't be determined until next week.

The Pies have erred on the side of caution with Thomas, who hurt his hamstring in the lead up to the round four clash with Port Adelaide.

Saturday night's match at the Gabba will be the fourth he has missed since sustaining the injury at training.

"[Missing the Lions' game] is not to get him up for Geelong - he's just not right to go," coach Nathan Buckley said on Friday, as the team prepared to fly to Brisbane.

"It's his first hamstring injury and forgive me for being a little bit gun shy with hammies.

"He missed training on Monday, trained really strongly on Wednesday and will benefit from a couple of solid training sessions over the weekend.

"He'll be cherry ripe for next week."

With Jolly out again after being a late withdrawal last week against the Western Bulldogs, Cameron Wood will face off with the young Lions' ruckman Billy Longer after Ben Hudson was ruled out with soreness.

Buckley said managing Jolly's load was a season-long requirement.

"There's a balance of giving other players opportunity. Very rarely are AFL players ever 100 per cent fit to go into battle," he said.

"You need to manage it throughout the season to make sure that they can get through a whole season.

"Jolls has had a massive load through the NAB Cup and through the early rounds for us.

"He's got niggles we're trying to look after and trying to get him up and about, but it gives Cameron Wood a great opportunity.

"He's played two full games now and this will be his third and we expect him to step up to the plate."

When asked if Jolly would be available to face Geelong, Buckley said: "We'll know next week."

Alan Didak will play his first senior game for the year after a pre-season adductor injury.

Buckley said two months of solid training plus three VFL games gave Didak the best chance of returning to his 2010 form.

"He's very aware of where his body's at and the opportunities he's going to have this year, and he wants to be as ready as he possibly could have been," he said.

"He is now and we're looking forward to him bringing his finishing power, work rate and intensity through the contest.

"I think Dids at his best makes us a better team so we're looking forward to seeing that tomorrow."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.