FREMANTLE star Hayden Young will bring a sharp coach's eye to the midfield when he returns against Collingwood after spending a large section of his rehabilitation working from the Dockers coaches' box.
Young has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on a repeat hamstring injury in early May, but he travelled regularly with the team while sidelined and carved out a game-day role supporting the Dockers' coaches.
Midfield coach Joel Corey said the Dockers would manage expectations on Young when he returns, but the 24-year-old would be a valuable inclusion against the Magpies with the way he views the game after his coaching box stint.
"He's been another set of eyes who can look at a particular part of the game and then not just mention what's happening but actually try to find some solutions," Corey, who has worked closely in the box with Young, told AFL.com.au.
"So when he gets back out there, I'm hoping that he can take that kind of thinking out there on the field, recognising what's happening and then going straight to solution-based thinking.
"He's pretty sharp with the way that he thinks about football and we went through a process over the last 18 months around some of the detail in the game, and he now sees it quite easily when he's looking from afar.
"His challenge now is to recognise it when he's out there."
Young has sat in the coaches' box since the round 11 win against Port Adelaide, contributing in a different way as the Dockers won seven of the nine games played during his absence.
His big body and clean hands shape as important assets at centre bounces on Sunday, where the Dockers came out in front 20-8 in their last clash against Collingwood in round nine.
"He's given us a few centre bounce strategies to have a think about or go to, and what he then does is relay what he's seen to individuals around their positioning and movement, or if they're getting stuck in a pattern," Corey said.
"He's been really good at that and then having conversations at the break and allowing the individuals on the field, who may have got stuck in a certain way and haven't recognised it, to make an adjustment."
Despite Young's return, star big man Luke Jackson is set to stay in his midfield role when not playing as a ruckman, having played a crucial role alongside Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong at ground level.
Corey said the athletic star was putting in a lot of work to improve his midfield game as his ruck partnership with Sean Darcy grows more influential.
"We're still in the early stages of exploring what that looks like, but Luke's one of these guys if you throw something at him, he doesn't take too long to adapt to it," Corey said.
"So he's moved into that role and he's growing each week and we're looking forward to seeing what it actually could look like.
"He works in with the other mids and he's part of the conversation on how to grow us as a group, not only from a ruck point of view, but as a mid. So he's certainly been put in places where he can learn and grow in the role as quickly as possible."
The Dockers' ruck duo will be crucial against Collingwood's Darcy Cameron on Sunday as both players grow in confidence after executing important roles late in wins against Hawthorn and St Kilda.
Darcy stepped up against the Saints to overpower Rowan Marshall while Jackson did likewise against former Docker Lloyd Meek and Hawthorn last Saturday night at Optus Stadium.
"We're still in the preliminary stages with it all, but they're two selfless individuals looking to grow something together and for the team," Corey said.
"We think it can work and we think it's good for moments exactly like that (late in games).
"He (Cameron) is a big challenge … the way that he can operate in the ruck contest but then transition around the ground and position himself in really important spots, so we've got to be mindful of matching that inside stuff but aware of what he's doing on the outside."
