Fremantle are set to be without key forward Matt Taberner for Saturday’s crucial clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.

Senior Coach Justin Longmuir confirmed Taberner sustained a hamstring strain during Freo’s round six win against Carlton, which may also rule him out for the North Melbourne game the following Friday in round eight.

“After further investigation over the past couple of days, (Taberner) is going to miss this week with a hamstring strain, which will put him in doubt for the week after (against North Melbourne) as we’re on a six-day break. It’s an unfortunate setback as he was building into some good form,” Longmuir said.

“I think it was the middle of the third quarter, we had to do some investigation in the past couple of days as to whether it was a knock or a strain. He managed to kick a goal in the last quarter off the (leg) it was done on, it was a bit of a different one but he will miss probably the next couple of weeks.”

Josh Treacy has firmed as the most likely replacement after kicking 4.0 for Peel on Sunday against West Perth.

Fellow young key forward Jye Amiss kicked 5.0 in the game, but Longmuir said he would like to see the no.8 draft pick build his fitness before making a debut.

Longmuir added that general forward Sam Sturt wouldn’t be considered as a Taberner replacement as they aren’t like for like.

Treacy will bring 16 games experience to the side if selected, last playing for Fremantle in round one against Adelaide, where he kicked 1.1 in Freo’s one-point win.

“We like the structure we’ve got down forward at the moment, the personnel we put in that structure, we’ll decide on later in selection,” Longmuir said.

“(Amiss) is still building his fitness, I think in terms of how fit he is, it’s around 80 per cent. He needs to build.

“He’s made an impressive start to his WAFL career. I think we lose sight that some of these players who come into the Club haven’t played against men before and him and Neil Erasmus were really good on the weekend.

“The last thing I want to do is throw him (Amiss) out there before he is ready or able to compete. I want to see him put a good body of work together before he’s available for selection. He’s got plenty to work on but he’s taking steps in the right direction.”

Longmuir said Fremantle hadn’t had any further concerns with Covid after Heath Chapman, Hayden Young, Liam Henry, Connor Blakely and Matthew Johnson were unavailable last week after entering the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols.

Both Chapman and Young are no guarantees to walk back into the side despite being available, needing to prove their fitness in a separate training session on Wednesday afternoon.

“They get out of iso later today so we’ll see how they go in the session we run for them,” Longmuir said.

“They’ve both done different amounts of running on the treadmill at home and have pulled up differently.”

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