A period of home quarantine looms as a hurdle in Fremantle's quest to gatecrash the AFL finals as they prepare for a possible season-defining clash with Carlton.
The Dockers gave their top-eight hopes a boost with a tense 12-point road win over Collingwood on Saturday and flew home to Perth, where they face tight restrictions under WA state government protocols.
They will have exemptions to leave their homes for training purposes this week but are otherwise homebound ahead of Saturday night's meeting with the Blues at Optus Stadium.
"It is (an imposition) but, really, every team's had to go through something like this throughout the season," Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said.
"We're not immune to that.
"It's our turn now to cop a bit of it, so we'll just deal with it as best we can."
Fremantle are sweating on the fitness of key forward Matt Taberner after he hobbled off the Marvel Stadium arena with a suspected "high calf strain" before halftime against Collingwood.
The Dockers survived a late Magpies fightback, with Brett Bewley and Lachie Schutlz combining for three late goals that saw to a gritty 14.7 (91) to 12.7 (79) win.
Bewley was a late inclusion for superstar Nat Fyfe, who was cleared by club medical staff to return from a dislocated shoulder but made the call himself to pull out at the last minute.
Longmuir said his captain is expected to return against Carlton.
Fremantle are now level on wins with eighth-placed Richmond - who were upset by St Kilda on Friday night - and will finish round 15 no more than two points (plus percentage) outside the finals spots, depending on other results.
"(Richmond's loss) helps, clearly, but we don't use it as motivation - our motivation is getting the process right," Longmuir said.
"What we've said all along is if we get the process right the result takes care of itself, and I still strongly believe that.
"We've got Carlton at home next week and we need to take care of business on our end."
The Dockers have lost their last three games against the Blues - a 45-point hiding in round three this season and successive four-point defeats at home in the previous two years.
