North Melbourne veteran Daniel Wells' finals bid is in serious doubt after he suffered a suspected calf injury in the third term of North Ballarat's clash against Coburg at Eureka Stadium on Saturday.

The two-time club champion, who was in his third VFL hit-out since returning from a troublesome Achilles tendon injury, limped off in the third term and – after considerable time on the phone to medical staff – he was sidelined for the rest of the match.

Fears that he had re-aggravated the Achilles tendon injury have been allayed by the club, but he will have scans on Monday.

The 30-year-old had been injured since round two before his comeback in the VFL.

He had initially felt soreness in the second term when he came off for a rest, but returned to the field early in the third term.

North medicos were quick, however, to rule him out for the remainder of the match when the pain increased after he limped from the field midway through the third term.

North Ballarat general manager Marg Richards said the medicos had done some testing and suggested it was "wait and see" on his recovery. There was clear disappointment from him in the North Ballarat rooms after the match, despite the Roosters' fifth consecutive victory. This had all but been the final hurdle that Wells had to overcome in order to make his AFL return for Friday night's clash against Richmond, in what would have been a timely dress rehearsal for finals.

The Kangaroos' hierarchy opted to play Wells for a third week in the VFL, despite being close to AFL selection against the Western Bulldogs.

The silky midfielder appeared to have gained plenty of confidence from last week's development league stint with Werribee – in which he scored two goals – after snaring eight disposals in the first quarter in Saturday's clash.

While he was one of the team's  leading possession-getters at the first change, his day became progressively worse from the second term.

Before the match, Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald, in his last game in charge, spoke openly about Wells' influence and his ability to draw a crowd to Ballarat.

"He's top in talent. We're very fortunate in the VFL because people can come and watch Daniel Wells play," FitzGerald said.

North's Trent Dumont and Joel Tippett were among the best for the Roosters.