FREMANTLE has suffered an injury blow on the eve of the season, with leading forward Matt Taberner sidelined with a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out of Sunday's clash against Adelaide.
Taberner could miss the opening two rounds with a minor hamstring strain, leaving the Dockers with issues in attack as Rory Lobb (chest) recovers from a heavy hit.
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After a smooth run with injuries over the summer, the Dockers could now look to young tall Josh Treacy to fill the gap in attack after himself being managed for stages through the summer.
Taberner was the Dockers' leading goalkicker in 2021 with 37 from 16 games, kicking 27 of those in a brilliant run through the opening 10 rounds last season.
He underwent ankle surgery at the end of last season and was managed through the early stages of the summer before returning to main training late in January.
Lobb struggled to breath in the aftermath of a heavy collision with teammate Sean Darcy in last Sunday AAMI Community Series clash with West Coast, but the club has been confident he would be available for round one.
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His absence would leave the Dockers without their two main tall targets and needing to either stray from their preferred structure or redeploy key players from other parts of the ground.
Coach Justin Longmuir has been reluctant to swing gun defender Brennan Cox forward after becoming a key to the back six.
Back-up ruckman Lloyd Meek, who has impressed this summer, shapes as a likely inclusion to share duties with Darcy and allow the No.1 ruckman to drift forward more frequently.
