NORM Smith medallist Jason Johannisen could be consigned to the reserves for the season-opener against Collingwood as the Western Bulldogs ponder the selection of recruit Adam Treloar.
Johannisen was dropped to the Dogs' VFL line-up on Monday, forced to watch on as the senior side dismantled Melbourne in their AAMI Community Series tune-up at Marvel Stadium.
Despite a fresh AC joint injury to Hayden Crozier that is likely to sideline the defender for round one, coach Luke Beveridge stopped short of guaranteeing Johannisen a berth against the Pies on March 19.
"'JJ' hasn't been out of the team since I've coached the club and we had a conversation about that," Beveridge said following the win over the Demons.
"He's got some great strengths, Jason, and when he doesn't play so well we really hone in on what he can contribute because of his speed and his skills and he can play other areas than just half-back.
BULLDOGS v DEMONS Full match coverage and stats
"Sometimes we've tried to keep it fresh for him and our team because we needed him. Now we need to go to the next level, and we need a couple of things in his game to come to the fore and he'll earn his spot back at some point. There's some pressure on for some spots.
"I watched the game today and he had a reasonable performance, but I thought there are a couple of lads, even Buku (Khamis) played pretty well as well."
The Dogs used Bailey Dale in defence for stages against the Demons alongside last-minute rookie signing Anthony Scott who continues to firm for a round one debut.
Beveridge was confident Aaron Naughton (forearm) and Laitham Vandermeer (corked hip) would be available to face the Pies with Adam Treloar to come into consideration for one of "two or three" spots up for grabs.
The ex-Pie played a little over a half in the Dogs' VFL practice match win over Casey in his first hitout off a calf injury and collected 19 disposals and six clearances.
"I'd say health-wise, based on today, he probably will be right," Beveridge said of Treloar.
"Then we've just got to make the call on whether we pick him (based) on a limited game time. He'll definitely be a consideration if we can get him through training and he's feeling strong."
Demons coach Simon Goodwin confirmed defender Jay Lockhart would undergo surgery to repair a "pretty serious" testicle injury, with full-back Steven May to be assessed after failing to return from a heavy hit in the final term.
"Speaking to Steven he's saying he's fine, but the doctors have got to have a good look at him and make a really good assessment and make sure there's nothing else involved," Goodwin said.
Goodwin lamented the Dogs' clearance dominance (48-24) with "nothing in terms of how we wanted to play turned out that way" for his "disappointed" playing group.
The Demons have put a line through vice-captain Jack Viney (foot) for their round one date with Fremantle but are hopeful midfielder Angus Brayshaw (foot) will be fit to play.
Brayshaw joined Kysaiah Pickett – who returned home from his mother's funeral in WA – in the VFL hitout on Monday morning with the pair likely to also feature against Box Hill this weekend.
Clayton Oliver (general soreness) and Christian Salem (hamstring tightness) aren't expected to be in any doubt to tackle the Dockers with draftee Jake Bowey "in the mix" to take Lockhart's spot in defence.
