MATT Taberner's bitterly disappointing foot setback has had a silver lining for Fremantle by opening up a list spot for the NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft on Monday.
The Dockers have confirmed the tall forward has a stress fracture in his left foot, which he also broke in round five last year.
Taberner, who has taken the fourth-most contested marks (24) and booted 13 goals this season, has been ruled out for the rest of 2019 and been placed on the inactive list.
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It frees up a list spot for the draft for Freo, which has been linked to Peel small defender Jarvis Pina and former North Melbourne midfielder Declan Mountford, now back at Claremont.
"Matthew had an MRI on Tuesday which indicated at that stage that he had a stress reaction in his left foot, ruling him out for eight weeks," general manager of football operations Peter Bell said.
>>The 2019 NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft will be broadcast LIVE on AFL.com.au, the AFL Live Official App and Fox Footy from 6:30pm AEST on Monday, May 27
"However, a follow-up CT scan subsequently confirmed that he had suffered a stress fracture in the foot.
"As a result, Matthew will miss the rest of the season, and be moved from the club's primary list to the inactive list.
"It's disappointing for Matthew and the club, but we know from how he has coped with a long-term injury previously that he will work diligently and professionally on his rehabilitation and be ready for day one of the 2020 pre-season."
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Coach Ross Lyon was reluctant to point the finger at Optus Stadium's surface after Taberner's setback, despite West Coast counterpart Adam Simpson's frustration with the ground's hardness amid a raft of foot worries.
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"I don't think we can assert that it's Optus, but we know we had more feet issues last year, so we've worked hard to stay on top of that this year," he said.
Without ruckman Sean Darcy (ankle) to turn to, the Dockers are unlikely to send Rory Lobb forward to replace Taberner.
Lyon is instead weighing up going small, which could open the door for Travis Colyer or Lachie Schultz to earn a recall, or bringing back mobile tall Cam McCarthy after two weeks out of the side.
McCarthy started 2019 – a year in which his contract expires – with a bang by bagging five majors in a round-one rout of North Melbourne, but went goalless in his last two games before being dropped.
Shuffling personnel is only part of the puzzle, however, and Lyon is deeply concerned about fixing Freo's inefficiency in attack, with the Dockers averaging 58 points in the past three losses.
They matched Adelaide's inside 50s (50-all) in round seven but kicked only five goals and had more supply than Richmond and Essendon in the past two defeats.
"The win-loss, we could easily be in a lot better shape (than 4-5)," Lyon said.
"Our offence has really disappointingly tailed off, but we've identified areas that we think are relatively easy fixes.
"I own the weekend for not being able to identify that better on the run than I did, and as a coaching panel and playing group, so it was a real missed opportunity.
"It's probably producing a little bit more quality from the opportunities and moving the ball in a slightly different fashion and creating better opportunities."
The Dockers host Brisbane (6-3) in a critical fixture for their finals hopes this Sunday in former star Lachie Neale's return to Perth after his shock trade request at the end of last season.
The 2019 NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft will be broadcast LIVE on AFL.com.au, the AFL Live Official App and Fox Footy from 6:30pm AEST on Monday, May 27
