Steve Larkin
Influential Fremantle midfielder Hayden Young has been ruled out of returning to face Collingwood in a high-stakes Gather Round fixture.
Young has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the Dockersโ season-opener.
And speedster Michael Frederick also wonโt make his comeback from an ankle injury against the Magpies at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
Dockers coach Justin Longmuir says the pair will spend another week on the sidelines ahead of his buoyant clubโs return to South Australia.
Freo downed the Crows in Adelaide by two points in a nail biter last Friday night to bank a third win in four matches.
โI have never felt like there hasnโt been optimism around this group,โ Longmuir told reporters on Tuesday.
โI donโt feel like any games last year or before, we thought weโd go into and not be able to win if we played our way.
โThe confidence has necessarily changed.
โI think the maturity of the group has changed probably a little bit – we have been able to be a lot more level and consistent week-in, week-out.โ
Longmuir said his fourth-placed Dockers were expecting to confront Collingwood linchpin Nick Daicos, who missed the Magpiesโ 54-point loss to Brisbane last Thursday night because of a calf strain.
โWe probably canโt stop him getting the ball but we can sometimes stop his efficiency,โ Longmuir said.
โOn the flip side, we donโt want to get too caught up in one player because they have got a lot of dangerous players … so itโs a balancing act.
โWeโll plan for their best and plan for their best players and if they donโt play, then weโll just adjust.โ
Fremantle recruit Mason Cox, who joined from Collingwood, was unlikely to return against his former club who sit in 10th spot with two wins and two losses.
Longmuir said Sean Darcy would again likely be preferred to form a ruck tandem with Luke Jackson.
โIโm just trying to pick the best team that will give us the best chance of winning – whether he (Cox) played for them last year is not really relevant in my eyes,โ he said.
