Luke Jackson feels the love as Dockers stalk top eight

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Luke Jackson feels the love as Dockers stalk top eight

Luke Jackson will have another week to make his case as Fremantle’s No.1 ruck as the Dockers look to break into the AFL top eight.

Fremantle will play it safe with ruck partner Sean Darcy, leaving Jackson in charge at the Optus Stadium centre square against Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

Darcy won’t play at any level this weekend as he continues to manage a left knee injury, further hurting the Dockers’ two-ruck experiment.

Darcy has previously had surgery on the same knee, but coach Justin Longmuir said earlier in the week the current injury wasn’t connected.

While Longmuir remains adamant about their ‘horses for courses’ approach in the ruck, Jackson put in a commanding solo performance in their 34-point away win over GWS.

The premiership player tallied 32 hitouts to help the Dockers win the centre clearance count by 15 to eight.

He also finished with 21 disposals, seven clearances and a game-high 15 contested possessions.

Jackson has played predominantly in attack when Darcy has been in the side, but he expressed his love for the ruck after starring against GWS.

The 23-year-old’s performance comes as rumours swirl about a potential move back to Melbourne, but teammate Josh Treacy says the speculation hasn’t been a distraction.

“I imagine it doesn’t. It’s just, ‘play your role down the field’,” Treacy told AAP.

“No, all we do is wrap our arms around Luke. Clearly by his performance, it’s not affected him and we love having him in our environment.

“I certainly love having him in our environment and I know he loves being here.”

After squaring their season ledger 5-5, the Dockers could seize a spot in the top eight if they beat Port.

The Giants, also 5-5, sit eighth on percentage.

“Clearly not the start we wanted, but there’s still a long way to go,” Treacy said.

“To find what we’ve been looking for over the last few weeks – and for it to really come together (against GWS) and just put four quarters of tough Freo footy on the park – I couldn’t be prouder.

“We were just searching for consistency, looking for the brand of footy that we want to play for the rest of the year.”

Power coach Ken Hinkley has been forced to make four changes due to injuries as his side look to snap a three-game losing streak.

The visitors head to Optus Stadium after a 76-point thrashing by Geelong.

Travis Boak, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Rory Atkins and debutant Hugh Jackson come into the side for Jason Horne-Francis, Lachie Jones, Josh Sinn and Esava Ratugolea.

Fremantle have named an unchanged side for the first time this year.

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