Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says a decision on Sean Darcy will be made later this week, in the strongest indication the Dockers ruck is set for an AFL return.

Darcy has spent the last three weeks in the WAFL and had a bye in between, as Fremantle’s million-dollar man worked his way back from his latest calf injury.

The 28-year-old has been in strong form at state level, including a two-goal, 16-disposal performance against East Perth, with Mason Cox failing to impress as Luke Jackson’s understudy.

Speaking to Channel Seven on Tuesday night, Longmuir suggested Darcy will be back in the side within the next fortnight.

“He took another good step forward on the weekend at Peel, played with the right intensity and had a really good match-up which will prepare him for AFL footy as well,” he said.

“We’ll have a chat later in the week on whether he returns this week or if it’s one more week.”

The only thing standing in the way of Darcy and an AFL return may be the blistering form of Luke Jackson, with Longmuir saying they do not want to upset his rhythm.

“We need to make sure we don’t play Jacko out of form, which I don’t think is going to happen, to make sure he’s right come the back end of the year when the really important stuff is played,” he said.

“We need to find a balance with that, and whether that’s with Sean or Mason on the side, we’ll strike that balance.”

Darcy’s potential AFL return is part of a welcome selection headache with the Dockers set to have all 44 players available for selection this weekend.

Luckless forward Sam Sturt, who is a test, is the only player in doubt, with Longmuir paying credit to the club’s player management.

“I think a lot of it goes down to good management. I think the fitness and medical staff have done a really good job to ensure our availability is really strong,” he said.

“Obviously, there’s a little bit of luck with collision injuries and things like that, but I think a lot of it comes down to management.”

Fremantle fitness boss Adam Beard pointed to the bye, which coincided with a run of three straight games in WA, for allowing them to refresh the playing group for the second half of the season.

“The schedule has given us a good opportunity to get some solid loads into the players, but also to give them an opportunity to refresh and regenerate,” he said.

“They’ve done really well, and we’ve had really good buy-in from the playing group.”

Fremantle’s season was ended by Gold Coast Suns in a heartbreaking elimination final last year but Longmuir said he won’t be using that as extra motivation for this weekend’s clash as his side look to make it 14-straight wins.

“There’s been a lot of games that have happened between now and then, and both teams are different in a lot of different ways,” he said.

“We’ll be preparing for their best footy, which they’ve probably been showing but not as consistently as they like.”

Gold Coast star Daniel Rioli is set to miss the clash after suffering a broken jaw in the loss to Hawthorn on Friday, but could be replaced by West Australian Wil Powell following his comeback from a shoulder injury.