FREMANTLE is preparing to be without young star Andrew Brayshaw for Saturday night's clash against Sydney after a calf tweak the club has put down to inconsistent training and playing surfaces.

The Dockers relocated to Queensland for two weeks ahead of their round eight clash against Brisbane, training at Metricon Stadium's second oval and playing the Lions at the Gabba.

They then flew into Melbourne for the round nine clash against Essendon and trained at Olympic Park ahead of the clash at Marvel Stadium.

Dockers coach Justin Longmuir said training and playing at multiple venues over such a short period had led to players pulling up sore and was the likely reason Brayshaw was in doubt this week.

"Andy will be touch and go. He'll likely be out this week," the coach said. 

"He had a scan last night so we're still working through that, but at this stage it's not looking good.

"Maybe the harder surface and travel and training on different surfaces over the last 10 days has made a few of our boys pull up a little bit sore.

"That's something we're going to have to look into."

Midfielder Adam Cerra has also pulled up sore from the Dockers loss to Essendon at Marvel Stadium but is set to face the Swans on Saturday night after being managed this week.

Club champion Luke Ryan will return from a calf injury after missing three games. 

Longmuir had no issues with Optus Stadium, with the Dockers recovering well from games at the venue, which is significantly softer in 2021.

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He said the inconsistent training and playing venues in recent weeks was not an excuse for the team's performances in a three-game losing run.

"When you’re constantly training on different surfaces, that impacts the way you pull up and your body doesn’t get used to a certain surface," he said.

"That’s an issue when you go and move your footy department to another part of the country.

"It’s just going to cost Andy a game at this stage, and we’ve just got a few other sore guys."

Meanwhile, the Dockers are awaiting feedback from the AFL on criticism of the team's negating tactics against Essendon, which drew criticism from Bombers coach Ben Rutten.

Longmuir said the Dockers had sent edits to the League's umpiring department and wanted clarity around what was legal.

Darcy Tucker was the only player sanctioned out of the Essendon match, drawing a $3,000 fine for an off-the-ball bump on Zach Merrett.  

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"We just want clarity around what the off-the-ball stuff looks like and where we went well," Longmuir said.

"We've got to be really careful that we don't just talk about one incident and label our team and our players with off-the-ball tactics.

"I think that could carry on for the next week and we want to be clear that we didn't think the off-the-ball stuff was there.

"We want to make sure we get a fair run this week. We don't want everyone looking at the job Caleb (Serong) does and treating him [unfairly] because of one incident.

"I don't think we went outside the rules, aside from one incident."