Geelong hard man Max Rooke has undergone minor knee surgery as he struggles to return to the AFL.

The Cats are also taking a conservative approach with star midfielder Joel Corey, keeping him on the sidelines until his knee swelling subsides.

Rooke, a two-time premiership player, has only managed one senior game this season because of his chronic knee problem.

"It's a little bit messy, but we'll just see how he recovers from that," Cats football manager Neil Balme said of the operation.

"It's that kind of messy knee stuff where they wear out a little bit.

"He hasn't really responded as well as we would have liked since (he last played), so we went in to have a bit of a look.

"It just needs to settle down, it was cleaned out a little bit, hopefully it will settle down okay - clearly those things are chronic."

Rooke played 22 games last year, but his only match this season has been the round-five loss to Carlton.

He is renowned for his tackling and pressure on opposition defenders in the Cats' forward line.

Corey played the first four games this year, but a knee that Balme calls "a bit grumbly" has since kept him out of the team.

The Cats want to ensure the knee settles and Corey is right for the business end of the season.

"We've got to take the pressure off him, we'd rather him not try to play through it, because then it does become a chronic issue," Balme said.

"We need him to not have the swelling."

Balme said Corey will not play this week and might miss the following weekend as well.

Corey is also a two-time premiership star and one of the Cats' best onballers.

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