FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon says there is an "open-ended" timeline on Jesse Hogan's return to football and has called for understanding around the marquee recruit's mental health issue.

The Dockers revealed Hogan is dealing with clinical anxiety after the former Melbourne star was unfit to train last Sunday.

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The 24-year-old has been ruled out of what was set to be his club debut against North Melbourne this Sunday after making "poor alcohol choices" last Saturday night.

"The doctors came to me and said we need to work through this so Jesse will be unavailable for selection," Lyon said. 

"It wasn't about round one. It was about him acknowledging where he's at and working through his situation.

"I haven't got any more detail for you with Jesse, except we need to respect this is a mental health issue, it's a wellbeing issue and you probably need to back off a little bit. 

"It's (his timeline) open-ended. Again, I'm not the expert in the area.

"I just sit there and I get guided along and I play my role and I support. I'm really careful not to injure anybody that is working through a situation, which I think we all should respect." 

Hogan took part in the Dockers' full 90-minute session at Cockburn on Wednesday before training was closed to media.

His potential replacement Cam McCarthy worked in the Dockers' apparent first-choice attack alongside recruit Rory Lobb, Hayden Ballantyne and Michael Walters.

McCarthy also spent time under individual instruction from forwards coach David Hale about timing his leads towards the end of the session. 

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The former Giant has booted 25 and 19 goals in his two seasons at Fremantle but was out of favour during AFL practice matches.

"Cam is really fit and strong. There's been real pressure on for spots. There's an opening and he did his chances no harm (playing for Peel last Saturday)," Lyon said.

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Injured tall Matt Taberner (calf) is listed as a test but is in doubt to be available against North after being limited to running and some light skills work. 

Emerging swingman Brennan Cox will be unavailable for the next month after straining a hamstring in the final JLT Community Series loss to West Coast 10 days ago.

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"An indicator of success is player availability, we all know that, but you're going to have some challenges and you've got to be mentally tough, respond to the challenge and overcome them," Lyon said. 

"Taberner is coming with a late run, he's hitting KPIs. That would be really exciting if he could get up." 

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The Dockers will roll out recruits Lobb, Reece Conca and Travis Colyer against the Roos, while former Williamstown duo Brett Bewley and Lachie Schultz are in the mix for debuts.

"(Williamstown premiership coach) Andy Collins … great Hawthorn premiership (player), tough back pocket, really great person, when we drafted them, I know him well enough and we had a chat, and he said 'they're just great characters, hard workers, they're tough'," Lyon said.

"Bewley's a long-running wingman and Schultz … is a strong mark, really tough small forward.

"Obviously Brandon Matera's suspension wasn't ideal.

"There's plenty of opportunities around this club, so we would be excited if one of them would get the nod."

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Lyon said third-year defender Griffin Logue (hamstring) is a chance to be fit for a Peel practice match this weekend, while wingman Bradley Hill (corked calf) is expected to face the Kangaroos.