Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has admitted that Nat Fyfe returning to the midfield is part of the Dockers' plan, but wants to see the Brownlow Medalist settle into his forward role.
Fyfe is currently sidelined with a foot injury, having managed just one game so far this season, but his potential return is looming in the coming weeks.
Having trained as a full forward over the summer, Fyfe is expected to return to the offensive third, but Longmuir has conceded the team needs help with their midfield woes.
"He's a good clearance player, obviously. That's always been in our plans," Longmuir said to media on Wednesday.
"It's always been, we'll get him embedded in his forward role, we'll get him comfortable down there and confident down there, and then we can expand his role.
"He had a bit of a sore foot in round one when he played his only game of the year, so we haven't been able to explore that. But we'll put him where he can play to his best."
The 31-year-old didn't train with the main group on Wednesday but is still targeting a Round 8 return to aid the struggling Dockers.
Fremantle currently sits 13th on the ladder with a 2-4 record heading into their Round 7 clash against Brisbane, with the senior coach conceding the club had plenty to work on around their contested ball use.
"We'll change up a bit of our training to get players a little bit more instinctive and a little bit more trusting of themselves to get in after the footy and win the contest," Longmuir said.
"But it can't be at the compromise of our method and our shape around the contest.
"I feel like a few of our players are getting caught up in thinking that's not helping them perform. Mainly based around outcome and form and scoreboard.
"That's taking them away from their role and the next task in their role."
Longmuir still has faith in the plan, but conceded that the Dockers need to work on their execution, rather than change how they play.
"We'll just get back to trying to execute it better. We're still sixth in the comp for inside 50s," he said.
"Early in the season, outside of the weekend, we were playing the game in the front half more than any other team in the comp. Just bits and pieces of our game aren't clicking.
"I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. I'm not going to panic. We'll stick to the course and see if we can get more weight of numbers executing their roles."
Fremantle will take on Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday afternoon, with play set to begin at 1:45pm (AEST).
