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Same goal, by different means

Bryce LuffWanneroo Times

Ballantyne served two weeks on the sideline after collecting Geelong defender Harry Taylor high during Fremantle's round two clash with the Cats.

While he said he would continue to attack the contest, he remains mindful he is just one ill-directed bump away from another stint out of the side.

"My best football is when I play on instinct and if I worry too much about anything else that's going on, I could end up being hurt or end up being dropped because Im not going hard enough at the ball," he said.

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"The AFL wants to protect the head and neck area which is fair enough. You're only one injury away from something that could be life-changing so I think it's a good thing they protect the head.

"I've got to try and minimise impact to that area of the opposition's body. It's a tough one but I've just got to go about it in different ways."

The Dockers are now two games clear after accounting for Essendon by 28 points on Saturday.

Next up are the Western Bulldogs who, Ballantyne said, presented a number of challenges.

"There's no such thing as an easy game of football and the Bullies (Western Bulldogs) have been playing some great footy this year," he said.

"Bontempelli and those kind of blokes, the young guys coming through, there's some really good footy players.

"I actually like watching Bontempelli play; he's a gun, so we have to show them full respect because they can tear a game apart very quickly."

Ballantyne also addressed talk that the Dockers were strategically fading out late in games to nurse some of their older bodies through the season.

"It's not something that we practise " to have a fade-out " that's for sure but we were changing a few things around on the field (on Saturday)," he said.

"Fatigue comes into it a little bit, but at the same time the opposition is just as fatigued too.

"Our trademark in the forward line is to chase, harass, pressure and then the goals come after that.

"We do our absolute best to have four quarters of absolute pressure and hopefully will get better as the season goes by."