ROSS Lyon says Hayden Ballantyne should be available for round one despite suffering a hamstring injury during Fremantle's win over Richmond in Friday night's NAB Challenge clash at Rushton Park.
The Dockers goalsneak limped off the ground early in the second term and headed straight to the rooms looking very despondent.
He had ice and then a compression bandage applied to his left hamstring.
He did not take any further part in the match but Lyon said the injury wasn’t too serious and he expected Ballantyne to be right for the start of the season proper.
"He's got a hamstring but it's at the minor end," Lyon said post-match.
"We expect him to play round one, but he'll jump (through) all the hoops that they put in front of him."
Chatty Docker in hot water
Skipper David Mundy and Chris Mayne were both omitted from the final team prior to the opening bounce. Mayne suffered a head knock at training during the week and did not pass a fitness test to play, while Mundy had a tight groin. Lyon said both would be fine to play next week.
Lyon said he also expected Harley Bennell (calf) and Alex Pearce (groin) to be in full training on Monday.
Nat Fyfe only played the second half but still collected 18 disposals. Lyon said the Brownlow medallist would likely play more game-time over the next two NAB Challenge matches.
The Dockers face Adelaide in Mount Barker next Sunday but it is unlikely they will rest many of their senior players.
"We've only got two games left and we're preparing for round one," Lyon said.
"One would suggest that we need to play some senior players against some fierce competition to get them ready."
Hayden Ballantyne has gone down with a hamstring injury. #NABChallenge https://t.co/dXiCbRVcfd
— AFL (@AFL) February 19, 2016
Richmond also lost a man in the first half with key forward Ty Vickery taken out of the game in the opening quarter.
Vickery was extremely groggy as a trainer helped him off the ground, but Richmond's stand-in coach Brendon Lade said the club had not determined what happened.
"I'm not sure exactly what happened with Ty," Lade said.
"He came off the ground and there was something with his head. I'm not sure if he got knocked or (it was) heat stroke or (he was) dehydrated. We'll get some tests done and find out. Hopefully he'll be right next week."
WATCH: Brendon Lade's press conference
Ben Griffiths copped a heavy knock in a ruck contest with Aaron Sandilands and would need to be monitored.
Lade said barring any injuries the Tigers would be pretty close to full strength next Saturday when they face Hawthorn at Beaconsfield.