Fremantle will give Western Derby specialist Paul Hasleby and in-form defender Chris Tarrant until the last minute to prove their fitness ahead of Saturday's clash between the two Perth rivals.
Tarrant has been struggling with a wrenched knee he sustained during last weekend's 15-point loss to Brisbane, while the atrocious conditions in that game may have claimed another victim in four-time Ross Glendinning medalist Hasleby.
Speaking at the traditional joint press conference with opposite number John Worsfold, Fremantle coach Mark Harvey let slip that Hasleby was in some doubt for the clash, although he didn't reveal the nature of his injury.
"Hasleby, Tarrant these sort of guys. I'm not saying Hasleby's got a problem but we've got to test a few guys," Harvey said on Wednesday.
"He (Hasleby) needs to be looked at yeah, but he played the whole game out (against Brisbane)."
"Tarrant played on Mark Le Cras last time and he's turned into a really good player for West Coast and we'd like to think he'll get up ... so we'll test him probably Friday I'd say."
"He's (Tarrant) a 60-40 chance but that's there to be shot down because you don't really know until the next 48 hours," Harvey said.
The injury would complete a dismal week for Hasleby, however, after details of a contract extension wrangle with the Dockers were made public last Sunday.
Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich (calf) and vice-captain Aaron Sandilands (hamstring) are almost certain starters, though, after missing three and two matches respectively.
But Harvey also hinted at making at least three changes to his side, saying a tenth youngster could be in line to debut this season.
Only two of Fremantle's 2008 draftees haven't played this year, but neither Chris Hall or Ben Bucovaz are available for selection, indicating the Dockers will probably promote another rookie.
East Perth forward Hamish Shepherd is probably the favourite then to debut over Casey Sibosado, Brent Connelly, and Jay Van Berlo, while such a move suggests the Dockers will place one of Michael Johnson (ankle), Brock O'Brien (quad) or Andrew Browne (personal) on the long-term injury list.
Hasleby's absence will be a boost for West Coast, however, as the Eagles are missing star duo Dean Cox and Daniel Kerr from their midfield for this encounter.
Cox and Kerr both travelled to Adelaide last week to see specialists regarding their respective groin and abdominal injuries, which have hampered the pair for much of the last two months.
Worsfold, though, said that aside from Cox, Kerr and Brett Jones (quad - two weeks), he had a relatively full squad to pick from, as tagger Tyson Stenglein had recovered from the minor bank complaint that saw him withdraw from the team for last week's loss to Port Adelaide.