FREMANTLE is bracing for the prospect of losing key players Hayden Young and Brennan Cox for the season-opener against Geelong, while All-Australian backman Luke Ryan faces a fight to earn his spot as part of a selection squeeze in defence. 

Young and Cox did not train with the main group on Tuesday, with Young experiencing lower leg soreness after the AAMI Community Series and in some doubt to take on the Cats, with the gun midfielder needing to prove his fitness on Thursday. 

Cox, meanwhile, has been battling a calf strain and appears unlikely to take his place against the Grand Finalists, with the Dockers expected to confirm his availability on Tuesday afternoon. 

In a boost to the team's chances, captain Alex Pearce got through training on Tuesday morning and appears a strong chance of resuming after battling a calf injury of his own. 

Ryan's selection will come down to match committee, with the club champion part of a selection squeeze among the small and medium defenders that includes pre-season standouts Brandon Walker and Karl Worner. 

While undoubtedly part of the Dockers' best line up, Ryan endured an interrupted pre-season after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction last year, spending a long period of the summer with restricted contact and missing the Dockers' two practice matches. 

"With Luke it probably comes down to selection a little bit more. We'll see how it plays out. He's got some good competition for spots down there," coach Justin Longmuir said on Tuesday.  

"The Geelong forward line is probably a little bit unknown, with (Jeremy) Cameron and (Patrick) Dangerfield possibly coming back, so we'll have that conversation this afternoon. 

"A lot of players have had really good summers and will be really disappointed to miss out in round one. But we've spoken about round one being just one game throughout the year. 

"It gets built up a lot, and even internally amongst the players, they tend to build it up a lot. But it's just one game. The players who miss out this week will get plenty of opportunities throughout the year."

Fremantle is already expected to be without speedster Michael Frederick after the half-forward suffered an ankle injury at training on Friday, potentially bringing draftee Tobyn Murray and pre-season selection Chris Scerri into the selection frame. 

Longmuir said the club would have in-form options to replace Frederick, who booted a career-best 30 goals last season and finished seventh in the club champion award.   

"He's disappointed. He's done nearly every minute of pre-season and to then get hurt in the last training session before the first week … it's disappointing," Longmuir said. 

"He'll rehab it and hopefully we'll get him back soon.

"We've got a lot of small forwards who have been in some good form so there'll be some competition for spots if we go that way." 

Longmuir said having extra run would be important against Geelong and the prospect of playing rucks Sean Darcy, Luke Jackson and Mason Cox together was not likely. 

The Dockers will be launching their season against a Geelong team that has already played in Opening Round, losing to Gold Coast by 56 points. 

Longmuir said there are disadvantages in the fixturing, but the Dockers had completed a strong summer and were ready to launch their season.  

"We get a good look at Geelong, but they've got the extra fitness and have had a good look at where their game is at as well," he said. 

"It is what it is. We'll go down there and give it our best shot and see where we are and move on.

"I feel like we've had a really good pre-season and we're getting to the starting line in really good order. Now it's about preparation and laying out a plan to go down there and compete really strongly."