ZACH Tuohy’s streak of 138 consecutive games played will come to an end with assistant coach Nigel Lappin confirming the durable Irishman would not line up in round one against the Magpies.

“We definitely won’t have Tuohy available for round one,” Lappin said.

Tuohy is likely to be joined in the stands by Jed Bews with the hardy defender struggling with ‘niggling’ injuries

“Bewsy’s just had a few niggles throughout the pre-season. He’s had a few different types of things that have come up unfortunately. He’s trying to work his way back,” Lappin said.

“We haven’t seen him heaps over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks he’ll be able to progress and build.”

Spots in the back six will be hard to come by, with Lappin highlighting the strong pre-season form of Stewart, Taylor, Henderson, Kolodashnij, Blicavs and Henry after the Cats’ win over Essendon.

It is going to be difficult. I think against some sides we can do it (play all six talls).

Whether we do it round one or not, I’m not sure what way we’re going to go at the moment.

"It’s going to be a difficult decision and one that we’re in a fortunate position to be in as a footy club. We’ll talk a lot about that over the next week."