FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon is tempted to recall "special" Stephen Hill against Port Adelaide but the silky utility appears set for a WAFL comeback on Saturday.
Lyon confirmed young defender Griffin Logue would replace star full-back Alex Pearce (ankle) and make his first appearance since round 22, 2017 after having his entire campaign last year wiped out by foot issues.
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Emerging ruckman Sean Darcy is also a "no-brainer" to come in for Rory Lobb, whose season is all but over after he became the latest in a string of WA-based players to fall victim to a foot stress fracture.
Young defender Griffin Logue will play against Port Adelaide on Saturday. Picture: AFL Photos
Hill hasn't been sighted since round 20 last year due to more quad and calf woes and will be in Freo's squad, but the 29-year-old won't make his AFL return unless a teammate fails to get through training on Thursday.
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"He is a special player, a strong contributor at our club, a really good leader," Lyon said.
"Are you allowed to have favourites as a coach? I said to Brad Hill and 'Sonny' (Michael Walters), he's my third favourite behind those two.
"It is tempting, but again there's rigour around selection, it's something that's earned and he's had an incredibly frustrating time.
"But I just can't believe that he's available for selection, because it's been so long.
"Whether he's playing in the seniors or at Peel, it's exciting for the club and for him, he's had a really rough road.
"One of the main reasons (Brad) came back (from Hawthorn was to) play with Stephen."
The Dockers will also resist the desire to name Harley Bennell after two stellar WAFL performances back from repetitive calf issues.
Fremantle is pushing for three-straight wins and in the hunt for a finals berth, and faces a dangerous but inconsistent Power outfit also on six wins for the season.
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Port's ruck duo Scott Lycett and Paddy Ryder loom as a challenge for Darcy, but Lyon was confident the "workhorse" youngster was up to the challenge after a month lay-off with an ankle complaint.
"Sean's got a big tank, he's powerful, he's more than held his own against really strong ruckmen, particularly (Brodie) Grundy last year in the last game of the year, so we're really confident he can stand up," Lyon said.
The Dockers' tall stocks have been thinned after losing Pearce, Lobb and Matt Taberner (foot), but they are holding out hope veteran Aaron Sandilands will make a late run from calf trouble by "round 18 or 19".
After a spate of lower-leg injuries, Lyon revealed both WA clubs would hold a "summit" to work through concerns over Optus Stadium's hard surface.
"We can't attribute it to it solely. When West Coast were having their unfortunate run with (Willie) Rioli, (Tom) Barrass and a couple of others … our luck had been holding out," Lyon said.
"All summer we'd been trying to manage footwear, training volumes, so we're looking at all the threads and the particular thread we can control.
"There's no silver bullet here, because if there was it would have been fired and nobody would be talking about it."
