Fremantle midfielder Michael Barlow has likened Aaron Sandilands to a good race horse, saying the three-time All-Australian will start hitting his straps once he gets a few more runs under his belt.

Sandilands was solid with 32 hit-outs and 10 possessions in Sunday’s 28-point western derby win over West Coast.

It was just his second game back from a serious hamstring injury, and a much better performance than his six disposal, 11 hit-out effort against St Kilda a week earlier.

At his peak, Sandilands is one of the game’s finest ruckmen, with his 211cm, 120kg frame making it hard for rivals to outreach or outbody him.

Three straight injury-interrupted seasons have somewhat curbed Sandilands’ ability to dominate games.

But Barlow, who won the Ross Glendinning medal as best afield on Sunday, said fans should expect to see Sandilands near his best by next month.

“He’s like a good horse – he’ll probably be better third or fourth up I reckon after a good month of training and games,” Barlow said.

“I’ve said it before, you’d rather play with him than against him, so it’s really good to have him in the line-up, especially against guys like Cox and Naitanui who can flick it around a bit.”

Fremantle remain just percentage adrift of fourth spot, but face a stern test on Sunday when they take on the sixth-placed Tigers at the MCG.

Dockers coach Ross Lyon described the match as a sobering thought, and their task could be made all the more tougher if skipper Matthew Pavlich is rubbed out by the match review panel.

Pavlich was placed on report for his head-high bump on Eagles defender Mitch Brown.

Although the contact was only glancing and Brown didn’t suffer any significant effects from the hit, it may not be enough to save Pavlich, who still has 93.75 carryover points on his record.

Pavlich booted three goals in his second game back from plantaris surgery, and the Dockers are desperate to have the 31-year-old out on the field against the unpredictable Tigers.