WATCH: Dawson subbed with ankle injury
The team, which is also without All Australian Luke McPharlin, regained defender Alex Silvagni and Stephen Hill for the Adelaide Oval clash.
The emergencies are Garrick Ibbotson, Tom Sheridan and Jack Hannath.
Freo general manager of football operations Chris Bond said Dawson had a fitness test on Thursday but failed to come up.
“We were really hopefully, he’s obviously a tough customer and does his rehabilitation better than most,” Bond said.
“Unfortunately, he didn’t get up. He was pretty close so were hoping next week there’s a really good chance he will play.”
Bond said it was disappointing to lose two key defenders, but he was confident the players coming in would do the job.
He said Silvagni, who will play his first game of the season, was a proven performer.
“He’s done it before in the big games previously,” Bond said.
“He had an interrupted pre-season with a severe operation on his ankle. He’s gotten through that, trained well and had some really good form at Peel.”
“We’re really pleased to have him back.”
Bond said the club also had other options to play in defence after forward Chris Mayne performed strongly when swung there in last week’s derby.
“It was a bit of an abnormal situation Luke McPharlin was off for awhile early and then Zac Dawson went down and didn’t come back from half time,” Bond said.
“Zac Clarke went back there as well at times and we thought they both did a good job for us.
“I think it adds a bit of versatility into our team and we’ll see how that goes for the rest of the year.”
Match Preview: Fremantle v Port Adelaide
Hill returns to the team after missing a week with a hamstring injury.
Bond said the speedster proved his fitness throughout the week.
“He was really close last week, he’s been able to complete all the training this week and we’ve got full confidence he will play, and play well,” Bond said.
Freo plays at Adelaide Oval for the first time. The Power have made an impressive start at their new home, winning their first three games at the venue by an average of 10 goals.
“Port are going well on all grounds,” Bond said.
“They are a terrific team, really well drilled and they are playing some great football.
“It will be a new adventure for our guys going to a new ground, but we’ve been to other grounds and preformed well and we’ll have no excuses this weekend.”
