Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has revealed key defender Josh Draper is likely to replace injured captain Alex Pearce ahead of the club’s clash with ladder leaders Sydney.
Pearce is expected to miss up to a month after scans revealed he sustained a fractured forearm in the win over Gold Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Longmuir revealed the 29-year-old would have surgery on Wednesday and have a plate inserted into his arm.
“We’ve estimated at the moment that it’s going to be between 3-4 weeks. Hopefully, it’s only that much,” Longmuir told 7News.
Fremantle have already ruled out a rushed return for key defender Brennan Cox, who played managed minutes for Peel Thunder’s reserves side on the weekend.
Longmuir confirmed Draper, who was dropped in favour of debutant Hugh Davies against the Suns, was the obvious choice to replace Pearce given the club’s lack of tall defensive stocks.
“It’s probably the likely scenario,” Longmuir said.
“We haven’t had match committee yet and we will throw some different ideas around.
“Obviously missing Coxy, Pearcey and Oscar McDonald has thrown a spanner in the works but we’ve got some options there and we will discuss them at selection.”
The Dockers will also need to name a stand-in skipper with Andy Brayshaw and Caleb Serong currently serving as Pearce’s deputies.
But Longnuir admits it will take more than one player to fill the void left by his absence.
“We haven’t really thought about that too much,” Longmuir said.
“The captain’s job on match day is to toss the coin but we need to rely on a lot of our leaders to be able lead.
“We need to make sure some of those guys on a periphery in terms of a leadership role, step up and fill the void of Pearcey.
“We’ll get to that decision later in the week.”