West Coast ruckman Nathan Vardy faces a nervous wait after injuring his left knee during his side’s 29-point AFL practice match loss to Fremantle at Lathlain Park.
Vardy collapsed to the turf early in the final quarter on Sunday after contesting a ruck.
He was helped off the ground and looked to be in a fair bit of strife.
Vardy shouldered West Coast’s ruck duties last season in the absence of Nic Naitanui and Scott Lycett.
The former Cat was hoping to partner Naitanui in the ruck or play as a key forward.
But if scans show he has torn his ACL, his season could be over already, unless he opts for a LARS procedure.
The Dockers played a near full-strength side in the closed-to-the-public match and they held off a third-quarter fightback to run out 12.14 (86) to 9.3.(57) winners.
West Coast’s Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan showed glimpses of their best and flashes of their worst.
They struggled to get into the game in the first half as the Dockers opened up a 19-point lead.
Ryan shanked a shot on goal from the pocket, with the ball sailing way out on the full.
Rioli also had moments to forget but when the pair got going in the third quarter, it was simply electric.
Rioli booted two goals and Ryan added another as the Eagles closed the gap to one point.
Fremantle pulled away after that but Ryan and Rioli did enough to show they can form a potent partnership up forward.
West Coast entered the match missing stars such as Naitanui, Josh Kennedy, Shannon Hurn, Andrew Gaff, Luke Shuey, Jack Redden, Jack Darling and Mark LeCras.
Fremantle boasted a near full-strength side, minus Nat Fyfe and Stephen Hill.
Ruckman Aaron Sandilands and Michael Walters starred in the first half before being subbed out, while David Mundy and Lachie Neale were big contributors.
Goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne had a shocker before being taken out of the game at halftime.
Fremantle suffered a scare in the second term when midfielder Connor Blakely limped off with what appeared to be a right knee injury but he returned in the third quarter.
Fremantle and West Coast will meet again next Sunday in their final pre-season hit-out at Joondalup.
