WINGMAN Ed Langdon believes Fremantle is "spoilt for choice" in midfield and insists Connor Blakely's three-month hamstring setback won't change the Dockers' engine room plans.

Blakely has been setting himself to shift from half-back to help cover the loss of Lachie Neale to Brisbane but will now miss at least the opening four rounds of the season.

With prime mover Stephen Hill, another candidate to pick up Neale's slack, facing a clouded comeback date after quad surgery, Freo's next tier could shoulder more responsibility supporting superstar Nat Fyfe early in the campaign.

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But Langdon was confident mature recruits Reece Conca and Travis Colyer, plus emerging youngsters Andy Brayshaw and Adam Cerra, would help fill any void.

"I don't think it changes anything, to be honest," Langdon said of Blakely's setback.

"As has been mentioned before, it's not just one guy that's going to roll through there, it's going to be a whole heap of guys.

"Especially the guys we've got in – Reece and Trav – they can certainly fill that void and a lot of the young guys it's been touched on, Andy and Adam, and their development again this pre-season.

"I think we're spoilt for choice a bit in there, to be honest.

"It's obviously disappointing that Connor won't be going through there early in the season, but I think there's a lot of other players that can go through that role."

Blakely spoke two weeks ago about overcoming mental demons returning from a knee problem – also suffered at training – which cut short his 2018 season at round 13, and his desire to get through a year injury-free.

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The 22-year-old dislocated his shoulder twice in 2017 – the year he managed a career-best 17 appearances.

"He's obviously incredibly disappointed about what happened and the injury but knowing Connor for as long as I have he's an extremely resilient guy and he understands what it is and how that's just part of the game," Langdon said.

"He's dealt with injuries before, in particular in the last two seasons and he's come back, and I have no doubt he'll come back fitter and stronger from this one."

Coming off a career-best campaign when he finished fourth in the Doig Medal, Langdon is eager to taste team success.

The Victorian dasher's brother Tom was a star in Collingwood's epic Grand Final loss to West Coast and listening to his elder sibling speak about the experience was "pretty moving".  

Tom considered joining Ed at Fremantle during last year's NAB AFL Trade Period before re-signing with the Pies, with the brothers on holiday while he weighed up the decision.

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"It was certainly a weird one," Langdon said.

"I think we were maybe in Tanzania at the time and I did think for a second I might have been able to snag him over here, but unfortunately, well not unfortunately for him, he wanted to stay in Melbourne and I think that was the right call for him."

Langdon is out of contract at the Dockers this year but reiterated his desire to be part of Freo's next era of success after joining the club via pick No.54 at the end of 2014, shortly before Ross Lyon's outfit plunged towards a rebuild.

"That's certainly a huge motivation for me is to stick it out at the club that drafted me and having gone through these times I'd love to be there playing finals footy," he said. 

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Langdon joined his teammates in a searching two-hour training session on Wednesday, notable for boom recruit Jesse Hogan (foot) and star Michael Walters (knee) ramping up their involvement in skills work.

In another positive sign, Stephen Hill completed some jogging along with draftee Luke Valente, who ran gingerly around the boundary.