FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon admits he has not had much contact with Colin Sylvia since his exile from the club, saying the banished forward is a slow learner.



Fremantle made the decision to send Sylvia away to train with WAFL club Peel on February 5, stating the 29-year-old was "not meeting the physical requirements for AFL football".



Sylvia has trained and played with Peel Thunder since that time. He played two practice matches in the pre-season and three WAFL matches in the home and away season but he's missed two games.

He missed round two due to a calf niggle and also missed Peel's win over Claremont on Sunday after suffering concussion the previous week.



Lyon told 3AW on Monday night that Sylvia remained a "work in progress" and when asked whether Sylvia was just a slow learner, replied: "I think that's proven to be the case.”



"We always see possibility in people. He's got strong resources wrapped around him with his duty of care coach, his individual coach.



"The conditioners are in contact with him every day. He certainly just hasn't been cut free. But I have limited contact to be truthful."



While Lyon has not spoken to Sylvia, he has been in regular contact with tagger Ryan Crowley. Crowley is serving a provisional suspension for a positive drugs test as he awaits his AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal hearing on Friday in Melbourne.



Lyon said he is speaking to Crowley almost on a daily basis.



"He's in all the meetings," Lyon said.



"I came in gameday to get rid of some of the stress and anxiety and jumped on the bike and Ryan was in doing his weights and his running.



"I probably engage with a brief conversation every time I see him. He's in part of the program. He's just got a slight calf injury that puts him in rehab."



Crowley will travel to Melbourne to attend his hearing in person and the Dockers will send a club representative to the hearing. Crowley faces a possible two-year ban for testing positive to a 'specified' substance following the Dockers' round 17 clash with Greater Western Sydney on July 17 last year.



The Dockers have coped fairly well without their 2012 best and fairest winner. Lyon said his team had begun to set-up against opposition sides without a lock-down tag role late last year but revealed that Crowley's absence had hastened the process.



"There was games late last year, like against Hawthorn (in round 21), where we didn't tag anyone," Lyon said.



"So the shift had already occurred before the end of the year.



"In 2015 it was just going to be horses for courses. So it's probably sped that evolution up for us."



The Dockers are injury free heading into Sunday's clash against Melbourne at the MCG. Skipper Matthew Pavlich copped a whack on the nose against the Sydney Swans but Lyon said he would fine to play this week.



All Australian small forward Hayden Ballantyne is also available after serving a two-week suspension and Lyon said competition for spots in the 22 is fierce at the moment.