FREMANTLE star Michael Walters is backing veteran goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne to remain part of a new-look attack as pressure for small forward spots intensifies.

Meanwhile, Walters couldn't shed any light whether skipper Nat Fyfe would be available for Monday's opening JLT Community Series clash with Collingwood following elbow surgery.

Fyfe was absent from a two-hour training session on Thursday, while young ruckman Sean Darcy was in the rehab group and seems unlikely to face the Pies after hurting a hamstring in last Friday's intraclub.

Ballantyne, 31, was back in main training after a recent stint in rehab saw him miss the intraclub.

In his absence, mature draftee Lachie Schultz impressed, booting two goals, while recruit Travis Colyer, Sam Switkowski and Brandon Matera showed glimpses in the apparent first-choice attack.

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Coach Ross Lyon has options to deploy at the feet of his three-pronged tall forward line, including Walters, who insisted Ballantyne still had a role to play after booting 21 goals in 17 games last year.

"(Ballantyne) got drafted with me so we've been here 11 years and there's no doubt that everyone knows what they're going to get from him," Walters said.

"I think he didn't play (in the intraclub) because he was a little bit sore from something, but over the pre-season he hasn't missed a beat.

"I think he's only missed four or five sessions through the pre-season, so he's ready to go and there's nothing really major going on with him.

"Lachie Schultz played well in the intraclub game and that's (due to) all the hard work that he put in.

"But you've also got guys like 'Switta' who has also put the work in on a consistent basis over the pre-season, which is good, so there's going to be spots up for grabs."

While plenty of focus has been on boom recruits Jesse Hogan and Rory Lobb boosting Freo's firepower, forward pressure is another area that needs to be addressed.

The Dockers ranked last for inside-50 tackles last year and are wary of opponents rebounding rapidly against them if they play three talls. 

How Fremantle lines up against Collingwood remains to be seen, with Lobb spending time in the ruck during match simulation on Thursday while Darcy and Aaron Sandilands (calf) were sidelined.  

After an off-season recruiting spree, there has been plenty of optimism at Fremantle this summer and Walters was looking forward to getting an indication of the club's progress by facing both 2018 grand finalists during pre-season. 

Following the Collingwood clash, the Dockers host West Coast in Mandurah on March 10.

"We just want to play our game, really try and be competitive against those stronger teams and I guess we will see where we’re at," Walters said.

Walters insisted he is feeling cherry-ripe with less than a month until round one, but wasn't sure if he would play both JLT matches coming off a carefully managed summer after knee trouble last year.

"That’s sort of based around GPS and stuff like that and because I haven’t spent most of the time out on the park during the pre-season, I think I only played 75 per cent to 70 per cent during the intraclub game but hopefully I can play a bit more this first game," he said.