Hayden Ballantyne's hopes of earning a new deal with Fremantle has been dealt another blow after he re-injured his hamstring in the WAFL last weekend.
Ballantyne underwent surgery during the pre-season after tearing tendons in his left hamstring.
The 29-year-old made his long-awaited return via the WAFL on Saturday, tallying 13 disposals and two goals for Peel Thunder in limited game time.
But the Dockers revealed on Tuesday that Ballantyne re-injured his hamstring during the match, ruling him out for a further three weeks.
"During the game he suffered another injury at the opposite end of the same muscle," Fremantle's high performance manager Jason Weber told the club's website.
"It's quite a minor injury. But on the back of the surgery at the other end (of the muscle), it's probably going to take us three games thereabouts to get that one right."
Ballantyne comes out of contract at the end of the season, and he won't be seen back at AFL level until round 14 at the earliest.
It leaves him around 10 weeks to prove his worth.
The 141-game veteran explored a trade away from Fremantle at the end of last year, before deciding to see out his contract.
And with the Dockers now firmly entrenched in rebuilding mode, Ballantyne could be squeezed out of the picture unless he can recapture the form that saw him become an All-Australian in 2014.
Weber said Harley Bennell was progressing well in his latest comeback from a calf injury.
Bennell is about four weeks from returning via the WAFL, and Weber said the former Sun did some running drills on Tuesday.
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