In-form Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands looms large ahead of AFL opener with Collingwood

COLLINGWOOD has eight fit ruckmen and forwards, but no one to stop Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands.

COLLINGWOOD this week confronts the grim realisation it has eight fit ruckmen and key forwards, but no one to stop Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands on Friday night.

The Pies meet the Dockers at Etihad Stadium in the start of an arduous run against nine consecutive finals contenders.

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Coach Nathan Buckley’s list is fighting fit and veteran rookie Ben Hudson will be elevated to the senior list tomorrow to support Brodie Grundy and Jarrod Witts.

Grundy will likely ruck on Friday with help from Jesse White, but all of them together would not stop Sandilands, who is in scintillating pre-season form and with the recent scalp of All-Australian ruckman Will Minson.

Sandilands’ pre-season numbers are off the charts and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon warned at the weekend his Dockers were perfectly placed entering Round 1.

Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands contests against Eagles Shannon Hurn and Eric Mackenzie. Picture: Getty

The 211cm monster is clearly Champion Data’s top-ranked ruckman of the pre-season contests and averages an amazing 12 hit-outs to advantage from his 115 total hit-outs.

That would be AFL record pace if he kept it up, with Lyon believing his Dockers are hitting their stride despite just one pre-season win.

“(Sandilands) has trained really well, ticked off a great summer, and he’s in really good form,’’ Lyon said.

“We have really trained on. We feel we are in really good shape. We will ask some really serious questions of Collingwood. They will ask some serious questions of us. (The pre-season) has been to the minute, but we have made some significant strides in the last couple of weeks.

“We are under no illusions how tough it’s going to be in Melbourne.”

Pies talls Tyson Goldsack, Witts, Quinten Lynch and Nathan Brown all built vital match practice in the VFL on Friday against a Richmond side containing Jake King and Nathan Foley.

Alan Toovey was also likely to play after recovering from a knee reconstruction and will be needed against Fremantle’s fleet of small and mid-sized forwards.

Collingwood forward Travis Cloke in action at training. Picture: Getty

Collingwood will likely choose a key forward set up of Travis Cloke, Ben Reid and Jesse White ahead of ex-Eagle Quinten Lynch, with Goldsack normally a key member but not yet fully fit.

The Pies have ruled a line through Jarryd Blair, who on Friday returned from a toe injury, and Marley Williams, who was awaiting sentencing for a grievous bodily harm charge.

Lyon said the Dockers would sweat on a report to star small forward Michael Walters, who faced a rough conduct citation after bumping West Coast’s Brant Colledge.

Nathan Fyfe was a certainty to play despite battling pre-season soreness, according to Lyon.

Lyon, re-contracted until the end of 2017 on Friday, was making it clear the Dockers has their eyes firmly on the prize this year.

“Our aim is to be a great club. We have put a lot of pillars in place, but we are not there yet. Great clubs are in the business of winning premierships, and that’s what we are aiming to do,” he said.

The Pies open the season with clashes against Fremantle, Sydney, Geelong, Richmond and North Melbourne, then play arch-rivals Essendon and Carlton, then 2012 contenders Adelaide and West Coast.