Fremantle is all but set to welcome back captain Alex Pearce from a shin injury that has seen him sidelined since Round 17.
Pearce has played 12 games in 2025, flagging body issues, but has been treated cautiously in the lead-in to the finals.
The Dockers have won the past 10 out of their 11 clashes, and look poised to return to September, but first must get past Port Adelaide, Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs.
And the skipper's return should only aid their chances.
"He's tracking well," Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said.
"He's taken big steps forward the last couple of weeks. We held him over on the weekend because we were getting him ready for performance. It should leave him in good stead.
"But we need to get him into the team, and get him up and going. With this injury, he'll never be 100 per cent.
"I'm really confident he'll play this week, and this year."
Longmuir is also weighing up what to do with two-time Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe after his outstanding return in the WAFL over the weekend.
Fyfe played 60 minutes in the reserves in a bid to make a push for senior selection, and with Hayden Young sidelined for at least this week with an adductor issue, there's a vacancy in the Dockers line-up.
"We have some good depth and a lot of players putting their hand up for that spot," Longmuir said.
"It's been a great effort (by Fyfe). He's been dealing with injuries for a number of years now, and to show the resilience, to keep bouncing back and keep presenting himself is a credit to himself.
"We needed to see (his performance in the WAFL). He got through well, but he needed to work on things we wanted him to."
