If the rest of the AFL was not already fearful of Fremantle, the prospect of the runaway premiership favourites being at full strength for their blockbuster clash with Geelong on Thursday night might prove downright terrifying.

The Dockers have managed to extend their remarkable club-record winning streak out to 12 games and stay on top of the ladder despite vice-captain Caleb Serong, crucial defender Brennan Cox, improved midfielder Matthew Johnson and imposing ruckman Sean Darcy spending time on the sidelines due to injury in recent weeks.

And after having the chance to recover and recuperate over a bye last weekend, the quartet all appear strong chances to be available for selection for a massive game against the Cats.

Ahead of training on Monday morning, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir all but confirmed Serong — who was pushing to take on North Melbourne before his side’s break — had overcome a calf injury and would take on Geelong.

“He’s one of our better players, clearly. We’ve had the luxury of giving him an extra week off to make sure we get him right for the back half of the year,” Longmuir said.

“I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get through training and is not ready to play.

“It’s a bit of a luxury to get him back.”

Although Serong did not quite complete training in full, doing some one-on-one ground ball work with development coach Chris Mayne as the majority of his teammates went through a transition drill, the three-time Doig medallist moved freely and looked unencumbered.

Longmuir was less definitive on the status of Johnson (hamstring) and Cox (knee), saying how they performed at and pulled up from the session would be important.

“We’ll get through training, see where everyone sits. There’s still a few boxes for players to tick,” he said.

“We’re expecting a couple back, but the lengths we’ll go to, we’ll work out.”

But the pair also appeared to be fully fit and did not appear at all concerned by ailments which emerged during their win over Brisbane last month.

Darcy is also pushing for a return to the senior side after coming back from his own calf issue with a strong pair of performances for Peel Thunder in the WAFL before the bye.

Longmuir said the ruckman’s training loads over the break had been “slightly different” to many of his teammates.

“It was more about giving him a bit of a rest as well,” Longmuir said.

“He’s done a lot of work in rehab and obviously two games back at WAFL level.

“He’s in good form (in the) WAFL. We’ll sit down after training and have a chat about if he comes in or if he keeps building his form.”

Aside from Serong, the only players with estimated returns longer than a week in Fremantle’s most recent injury update were untried defender Ollie Murphy, fringe forward Sam Sturt (both knee) and speedy defender Brandon Walker (concussion).

Walker also made a return to training sporting a helmet on Monday, having spent recent weeks on the sidelines after suffering two head knocks within a two-week span in the WAFL.

The looming battle between Darcy and Mason Cox for Fremantle’s second ruck spot will not be the only selection headache the club’s brains trust needs to deal with before naming their side on Wednesday.

Fringe key defender Oscar McDonald figures as the likely candidate to be dropped for Brennan Cox but whichever Docker loses their place for Serong or Johnson could count themselves unlucky, given their side’s strong form.

Longmuir said he expected the Dockers to find rediscovering their form from the first half of the season immediately after their bye a challenge, but he had “a lot of trust in this playing group. “

They’ve earned that trust over the last 12 weeks,” Longmuir said.

“They’ve been able to show up really consistently and then perform really consistently.

“The beauty about our bye is it’s a little bit shorter as well, so there’s no mucking around. We need to get stuck in.

“It’s just about switching focus back onto footy and getting their heads back into the game, not letting the players ease their way back into training — once they get back, we’re back to work.

“I feel like our players have come back really keen and eager to get back into their work. There’s a lot of trust in the fact they’ll go through their preparation and we can show our best against Geelong.”

And true to form from their messaging throughout 2026, the Dockers coach reiterated his side would not get too far ahead of themselves in the weeks to come.

When asked if he would view the rest of the season in blocks of games, Longmuir replied: “We look at blocks — blocks of one game.”

“That’s the way we approach it. We give all our effort to Geelong,” he said.

“There’s some long-term planning behind the scenes, but we ask our assistant coaches and our playing group just to focus on the next game ahead. It’s served us really well this year and we’ll keep doing that.

“I feel like we’re putting it together and there’s still plenty of improvement left in us, as we’ve spoken about with the players, but we’re in a good space.”