Alex Pearce has been ruled out of Saturday's Indigenous All Stars fixture after injuring his ankle in a Fremantle intra-club match, while Shai Bolton is racing the clock to beat a calf concern.
Pearce was due to switch allegiance to the All Stars before suffering a second ankle 'tweak' in recent weeks during Friday's scratch match.
Fremantle opted to rule out the Palawa defender and Dockers captain following scans at the weekend.
It's the latest headache dealt to Indigenous All Stars coach Xavier Clarke, who'll have to reshuffle the magnets down back without Pearce and after Bulldogs key-defender Liam Jones went down with a serious hamstring injury during an intraclub match in Queensland the previous week.
Jones is set to miss the opening round of the 2025 season as a result.
Before the recent setback, Pearce had previously declared a separate ankle concern was little threat to him featuring in Saturday's match.
The Dockers are set to assess his availability for their next intra-club and preseason match against Melbourne in the coming weeks.
New recruit Shai Bolton was last week placed in the maybe pile for taking part for the weekend's match with a minor calf strain.
Bolton is reportedly pushing to tick himself off by Wednesday.
"I still have a couple of things to tick off with the club. The calf is feeling good so I think I'll be right. On Wednesday I will find out. If I can train with the main group hopefully I can get out there," he told the West Australian.
The 26-year-old, who recently traded back to his home state from Richmond on a five-year deal said "I want to be right for round one but it's also important for me to play (for the Indigenous All Stars)".
"All of my family will be in the stands and it will be my first time playing for the All-Stars. It would be a privilege to play, especially with all of the brothers that are playing. We'll have a pretty quick, small forward line," he said, the West Australian reports.
In other news, Fremantle veteran Michael Walters has been named the All Stars side's captain with Brisbane premiership forward Charlie Cameron and rebounders Bradley Hill Jarman Impey offering support in the leadership group.
According to AFL journalist Damien Barrett, star Bulldogs' forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is a chance to join the All Stars squad in Perth this weekend.
Ugle-Hagan will not play in the match, but has reportedly been encouraged and is likely to travel and get around the squad - possibly in a supportive role on game day, Barrett said on Tuesday.
The former no.1 draft pick has had an interrupted preseason both at and away from the kennel as he deals with personal issues.
The club granted Ugle-Hagan a flexible program in preparations for the upcoming season, with the 22-year-old training with the Bulldogs' VFL group last week.
