FREMANTLE will look to give Luke Jackson more time in the ruck than it previously has when he returns from injury to play alongside Sean Darcy, with coach Justin Longmuir hopeful the star big man will be ready to go against St Kilda on Friday night. 

Jackson and Darcy have not played together this season, with Darcy missing the first month as he recovered from knee and ankle surgeries and then returning after Jackson suffered a hamstring injury against the Western Bulldogs in round four. 

Longmuir said the Dockers could alter how the pair split their time in the ruck after Jackson's outstanding start to the season while also finding opportunities to keep the premiership Demon around the ball in other roles.   

"We probably see Sean as our No.1 ruckman. We'll give more time to 'Jacko' than maybe what we have in the past though, and Sean will have to tidy up his forward craft at times," Longmuir said on Tuesday. 

"It probably gives us flexibility to use 'Jacko' in other places as well. 

"We'll start working on that combination and see what best suits. It's always a horses for courses type mentality with how much time each of them rucks and plays other roles."

On Jackson's availability this week, Longmuir said: "He has to get through training, but we're pretty positive about his progression and pretty positive about the work he's done. I felt like he could have played last week. That's only my feeling, so we're hopeful."

Longmuir said the 23-year-old had been the Dockers' in-form player when he suffered his hamstring injury and his return would allow the midfielders to apply pressure at stoppages through the advantage of always having two genuine ruckmen. 

The Dockers were the No.1 team in the AFL last season for clearance differential (+7.1) but have this year slipped to eighth (+2.1) while using key forward Pat Voss and defender-turned-forward Oscar McDonald as back-up rucks. 

In the 12 games last season when Darcy and Jackson played as a combination, they won the clearances by an average of 9.9. 

"[Having two rucks] gives us flexibility if things aren't working, and maybe a couple of weeks ago we'd have loved to have been able to have that flexibility," Longmuir said. 

"It gives the opposition ruck a different challenge because they're so different in the way they play, and it probably allows us to maintain pressure at clearance and allows us to be proactive more often."

Longmuir said the team's preparation last week had been important in producing an improved performance, but it was something the group had not got right often enough this season. 

After an animated address at training last week and again before the Adelaide win, Longmuir said he had continued to balance the moments when players needed a "cuddle" versus a "kick up the backside". 

"I don't think it's changed for me. I've used that before and there's certain coaching moments throughout the week and across the course of the year that you need to latch on to and make the most of," he said. 

"There was one moment last week that was made a bit of, and I'm always trying to look for those moments. 

"Sometimes after a loss, the players are a little down on themselves and actually need a cuddle, and sometimes they need a kick up the backside. 

"As a coach, you're trying to read the room and read the group and understand what they need. It felt like last week, as a team we needed a little bit of that.

"We want to get to a stage where the players are enforcing those things and driving those behaviours rather than it coming from me."

Longmuir said the Dockers were well aware of what St Kilda could produce, despite the club losing its past three matches by an average of 48 points, with the contested ball battle set to be critical. 

"Their contest numbers are elite and they've got some dangerous players off half-back who get their ball movement going," he said. 

"Their front-half game at their best is very strong and scores from front half when they win it is right up there.

"They're just well-balanced over the ground … and they've got a mix of ball use and contest and team defence.

"The last couple of results haven't gone their way, but you don't have to be far off in this game for it to look like that, so we're well aware of what their best looks like."