AARON Sandilands' chances of playing again this season are clouded after the Fremantle warhorse suffered a setback with his troublesome calf.
The 211cm veteran was a last-minute withdrawal before the Dockers' round 15 loss to Brisbane and was pushing to return against Hawthorn this Sunday, but the niggle returned at training this week.
"I think it might be a two-or-three-week injury. It's disappointing for Aaron, it's disappointing for us, but that's just the way it goes sometimes," coach Ross Lyon said.
"My understanding is he can rehabilitate to get back to play, so that would be the aim."
Sandilands' declining durability in the past two years casts some doubt over the Freo great's future.
He has played 21 of a possible 39 games due to hamstring and calf issues, after managing only five appearances in 2016 due to broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Sandilands is out of contract and turns 36 in December, with uncertainty whether he will go on for a 17th campaign or join Michael Johnson and Danyle Pearce in departing the club.
Lyon said that discussion about Sandilands' future was yet to take place.
Small forward Hayden Ballantyne, who is in the mix to face Hawthorn after an ankle problem, is also among the veteran Dockers uncontracted beyond 2018.
Lyon also revealed the best-case scenario for superstar Nat Fyfe is to return for round 22 from his hamstring injury.
In better news on the injury front, the Dockers expect young ruck bull Sean Darcy to overcome his groin strain after being withdrawn just before last Sunday's loss to Essendon.
First-year midfielder Andrew Brayshaw (groin) and Stephen Hill (quad) are other likely inclusions for the Optus Stadium clash.
The Dockers have lost 13 of the past 15 games to Hawthorn, but loom as a danger side for Alastair Clarkson's men.
The eighth-placed Hawks are in the logjam of teams fighting for finals spots, but have been up and down in 2018, and face a Freo side which has knocked over September contenders Essendon, Adelaide and the Power at home.
"They're a very good team, they've probably been more inconsistent than they'd like over the year, but their best is very good," Lyon said.
"We'd like to think our effort was really strong last week (against Essendon), although we were on the back foot around clearances and getting some penetration and ground position.
"If we can improve our clearance work and give our forwards some opportunity, we think we can challenge."
The Dockers could send Bailey Banfield to Brownlow Medal favourite Tom Mitchell in another learning opportunity after some jobs on elite midfielders, including Zach Merrett twice, in his rookie season.
"The beauty of Bailey, we're just not locking down," Lyon said. "Bailey wins his own ball as well … that's a great attribute to have.
"If Bailey could play on him, learn a fair bit, (Adam) Cerra could go to him and learn.
"They're learning about body work, reaction, activity around stoppage and running patterns
"It's all part of the growth."
