Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy will make his return through the WAFL, but he’s unlikely to be joined by former captain Nat Fyfe who is battling knee soreness.

It comes as the Dockers weigh up whether to bring midfielder Hayden Young back into the side to take on the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium on Sunday or give him a run at Peel Thunder.

Dockers coach Justin Longmuir confirmed Darcy would play for the Thunder — his first game at the level since 2019 — against Claremont in Mandurah on Saturday in his first game of the year after battling knee and ankle injuries.

“Youngy we will see how he goes through training, and we will have a discussion this afternoon, Sean’s going to play WAFL,” Longmuir said.

“He won’t train today on the basis he did a bit of extra work earlier in the week and with what he’s had to endure and the work he’s put in, he needs some footy to be able to get to AFL level and we can manage that a lot better at WAFL.

“He won’t be going down there thinking it’s a walk in the park, it’s a vital step for him with his fitness, his strength, his ruck craft to be able to play at that level first before we put him on the big stage.”

Fyfe, 33, pulled up sore after his first full game of the year in the Thunder’s pre-season win over Subiaco at the weekend.

The dual Brownlow medallist is coming off pre-season knee surgery and has played nine of a possible 12 quarters in three Peel pre-season games.

“I think he’s close to being AFL ready, real close but unfortunately, he’s just pulled up a little bit sore this week in that knee so at this stage I don’t think we’ll see him at any level,” Longmuir said.

“I was hoping this wouldn’t happen, but to be honest, it’s probably to be expected. He’s just got a little bit of soreness in that (knee), we know it’s not significant, but he may need a week off.”

Longmuir quickly shut down any suggestion that Fyfe – who is out of contract at the end of this year – wouldn’t play at the AFL level again.

“We expected this could happen to some degree as we lifted his loads. We saw it early in his rehab when we lifted his loads, he got a little bit of soreness,” Longmuir said.

“He played his first full game on the weekend, probably the first time he’s really unleashed his strength and run and all those types of things and let himself go.

“We could probably get him up to play this week, it just wouldn’t be the right thing.”

Longmuir said there was still room in the Dockers’ stacked midfield for Fyfe despite the emergence of Nathan O’Driscoll this season as well as the good form of Matt Johnson and Jaeger O’Meara.

“We’ll have to weigh up the split that he plays. Naturally last year he was playing the mid who played lower gametime to keep him fresher when he’s in there,” he said.

“And he’s got the capability to go forward and give us a contest down there, so he does have flexibility in his game, which is handy.”

Longmuir also revealed wingman Jeremy Sharp had been battling shin soreness and it was why the former Gold Coast Sun was subbed out at the weekend.

“He’s carrying a bit of a sore shin and the opportunity at the weekend we felt like we had a like for like in Aishy (James Aish) to lower his gametime,” he said.

“There’s some things in his game he can work on, but he’s a pretty important player for us because he’s the only sole winger we play.

“We just need to get on top of that little niggle so he can get his training loads up and his form will bounce.”