In-form Dockers not getting carried away

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon is a hard man to please, and even three wins on the trot won’t necessarily bring a smile to his face this weekend.

The injury-hit Dockers have bounced back to form with big wins over Essendon and Brisbane over the past fortnight.

A true test of their mid-season resurgence will come on Saturday when they take on Port Adelaide at Domain Stadium.

The ninth-placed Power (6-6) desperately need to win in order to stay in touch with the top eight.

But with the Dockers already well out of finals contention, Lyon has the luxury of experimenting with his squad without needing to stress too much about the result.

Lyon said a win against Port Adelaide wouldn’t necessarily signal a step forward for his team – unless they achieved the result in the right manner.

“You can’t let results define your improvement,” Lyon said.

“You can win and have gone backwards, and you can lose and have gone forward.

“It’s not ultimately about the scoreboard.

“If you’ve given everything you’ve got and you’ve given your greatest effort and you fall short, well it’s a really good position to be in because it’s easy to identify the areas you need to improve.

“We’re not defined by the win-loss.”

Despite the importance of the match for Port Adelaide, coach Ken Hinkley resisted the urge to recall star forward Jay Schulz, who is back in full training after recovering from back surgery.

Instead of being thrust into a must-win game in Perth, Schulz will return via the SANFL.

The Dockers have been boosted by the return of veteran forward Matthew Pavlich (groin), while the Power dropped Jared Polec for Karl Amon.

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