Collingwood forward Lachie Schultz knows Fremantle better than most, and after a dinner with his ex-teammates, he’s expecting a fired-up Dockers at Optus Stadium on Thursday night.

The Dockers are looking to rebound from a horror 61-point belting at the hands of St Kilda last weekend that has led to serious questions around their premiership credentials and coach Justin Longmuir.

Schultz — who played 90 games for the Dockers before being traded to the Magpies in 2023 — said he expected his former side to bounce back.

“I’m still close with a lot of the guys there and it’s disappointing seeing them get hounded all week after the performance they put up at the weekend,” he said.

“I have no doubt they’ll bounce back, I know them very well and I know that’s what they’ll be planning this week and looking forward to embracing that challenge.

“I speak to a lot of them every day, I caught up with a few of them last night for dinner and we speak everything, whether it’s life or footy. And they’re in a good place mentally and they rally together in times like this, as does everyone. I still love them dearly and wish them all the best but hopefully we can get the win.”

Collingwood have gone a conservative approach as they come off a five-day break and a trip to Perth, resting defender Brayden Maynard, forward Jordan De Goey and veteran Scott Pendlebury, while forward Brody Mihocek is out with injury.

They’ve brought in Jeremy Howe, Ed Allan, Lachlan Sullivan and Oleg Markov to replace the star quartet.

Schultz said the undermanned Collingwood was more than capable of doing the job to get the win.

“There’s never a week where you don’t feel like you can’t win,” he said.

“There’s no reason why we can’t go in tomorrow feeling like we’re the better team and why we can’t win.

“We’ve planned this week; we’re looking forward to the challenge. It’s not going to be easy, but it never is.”

It is a rare foray for Collingwood into WA and Schultz said it was different from when he travelled every second week at Fremantle.

“When you’re travelling every second week you get used to it whereas now it’s a little bit exciting to get on the road with the boys,” he said.