The finals hopes of Fremantle defender Garrick Ibbotson will go on the line this week when the 25-year-old puts his dodgy Achilles tendon to the test.
Ibbotson has missed the past four matches through injury, but was named in a second-string Fremantle outfit to take on St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The rebounding defender pulled up sore from training on Thursday and is no certainty to take his place against the Saints, with Josh Simpson travelling to Melbourne as an emergency.
Should Ibbotson fail to play this week – or pull up sore from the game – he’s almost certain to miss next week’s qualifying final against either Geelong or Hawthorn.
Ibbotson had been in All-Australian form before being struck down by injury, and the Dockers are desperate to have him fit and firing for the finals.
“We’ll give him every opportunity to come up. It’s a really important week for Garrick to try to get up to play,” Dockers coach Ross Lyon said.
“He’s a pretty important player to us.
“But at the end of the day, he needs to do some work. He needs to get some match conditioning if he was to be a realistic chance for the first final.”
Fremantle made a whopping 10 changes for the Saints clash.
Stephen Hill (hamstring), Michael Walters (knee) and Nick Suban (hamstring) were ruled out with injury, while Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Hayden Ballantyne, Michael Johnson, Zac Clarke and Lee Spurr were all rested.
Of the players recalled, only ruckman Aaron Sandilands, Clancee Pearce and Ibbotson are regular first-choice members of the side.
Sandilands, who fractured his cheek a fortnight ago, desperately needs a run after missing most of the season with a hamstring injury, while Pearce is on the comeback trail from a calf tear.
Alex Forster will make his debut, while fellow fringe players Peter Faulks, Jesse Crichton, Josh Mellington, Alex Silvagni, Matt Taberner and Hayden Crozier have also earned guernseys.
Retiring Saints veteran Justin Koschitzke will notch his 200-game milestone after overcoming a lengthy calf injury.