THE WAIT might finally be over for Harley Bennell.
Fremantle is set to load up with key players returning from injury for Sunday's home clash with Hawthorn, and Bennell is in the mix to play just his third game in nearly three full seasons at the Dockers.
In his ninth WAFL appearance for the season on Saturday, the 25-year-old picked up 22 disposals and booted 1.2 as Peel upset South Fremantle.
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It was the first match all year in which injury-plagued Bennell has been unleashed without restrictions on his running distance and game time, and the ex-Gold Coast star is a chance to face the Hawks.
If selected, it would be Bennell's first appearance in purple since round 23 last year.
"Harley played quite well, as did Mitch Crowden and a couple of others, so they'll all come into consideration and we'll deal with that at match committee," coach Ross Lyon told Channel Seven.
The Dockers hope veteran ruckman Aaron Sandilands (calf), his apprentice Sean Darcy (groin), Stephen Hill (quad), Andrew Brayshaw (groin) and Hayden Ballantyne (ankle) are also available after lay-offs.
Darcy was a last-minute withdrawal from a 29-point loss to Essendon last round after tweaking his groin in the warm-up, while Hill wasn't risked after another soft-tissue setback.
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"Sean had that small groin injury the week before," high performance manager Jason Weber said.
"We took him right to the wire in the warm-up to try and see if we could get him up, but it wasn't quite right.
"Again, he'll train this week and be a test."
The Dockers received mixed injury news, with Matt Taberner set for his first game, probably at Peel, after breaking his foot in round five.
But skipper Nat Fyfe (hamstring) might not be available until round 22 against Geelong after missing the past three rounds.
Meanwhile, young defender Griffin Logue's season is over without adding to his 13 senior games due to the congenital metatarsal problem which derailed his campaign.
The Dockers hoped Logue, taken with pick No.8 in the 2016 NAB AFL Draft, would improve with rest but, after an ankle issue ruined his comeback bid, he will now be sent for surgery on his foot.
"Griffin's foot really hasn't progressed as we'd have hoped," Weber said.
"He's going to move to surgery and, hopefully, we'll get him available for a really strong pre-season and get him ready for next year."
Meanwhile, Lyon said he had "no idea" if Freo was ever a chance to lure free agency target Jeremy McGovern across town from West Coast before he ultimately put pen to paper on a five-year contract extension.
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"I think a lot of clubs spoke to him," he said.
"That's our list manager Brad Lloyd that does all that. I think it's pretty hard to move players from their clubs."
Lyon denied the Dockers were on a quest to land a star key position player from a rival club, and backed Freo's developing talls to help lead the club back to finals.
"A quest? I think that's a bit dramatic," he said.
"We'd like to ultimately draft our own. Taberner is growing, (Brennan) Cox is growing, we've got Hughy Dixon, we've got Sean Darcy.
"You always try to add to your list because free agency is a legitimate mechanism, but at the end of the day we've been going to the draft strongly and those guys are coming through."
