Ballantyne has long polarised footy fans. He does the spectacular and puts his body on the line in desperate acts but also spends his share of time watching from the stands, which could cause a major problem for the Dockers come September.

This morning Ballantyne and Fremantle accepted a one-week suspension for a behind-play punch in Fremantle’s win over GWS on Sunday.

The repeat offender, however, still has the “love” and support of his coach, who is happy for him to play on the edge.

“We want our guys to play with passion we don’t want them to be robots. Hayden’s as passionate as we’ve got, it’s driven him the hard road from down at Peel and Mandurah,” Lyon told 6pr’s Sports Today program on Monday night.

“His absolute strength we love and if it tips over and occasionally becomes a weakness we’ll wear that and move on.

“I’ll always pick Hayden, we love Hayden. He’s been terrific for us this year, so it is what it is and whatever happens we’ll just move on and keep picking him.”

The Dockers coach's stance appears to have softened.

Back on April 21 Lyon said Ballantyne had “let himself and the team down” after he was suspended for two incidents against the Sydney Swans.

This week's suspension marks the ninth time Ballantyne has been sanctioned in his career and the fourth time he has been reported this season.

The latest ban means the Freo goal sneak still has 59 carryover points on his record and being the third time he has been suspended in the last 18 months, any future penalties will be increased by 10 per cent.

“He’s a great man we all know actions and outcomes. He wins us more than he loses us and the rest wouldn’t do him any harm anyway," Lyon said.

“Look we wouldn’t want 13 blokes [doing it ]. That might be a different situation but I think it’s really at the low end and it is what it is and I think we have better things to talk about “

The Dockers have now won eight straight games and have moved into second favourites for the flag behind Sydney but Lyon isn’t getting carried away.

"What we've spoken about internally is we've tracked along OK but earlier in the year Port Adelaide beat us, Sydney beat us, and Hawthorn," he said.

"In the ensuing weeks we play Geelong, Hawthorn, and Port Adelaide, three of the top five. So until we beat those teams our credentials aren't as solid as we would like them. “

"Our big challenges are coming. We might sit second but in reality I think we've still got to prove some of our bona fides.”

In some good news for the Dockers, Luke Mcpharlin will return from a calf injury against St Kilda this week but Garrick Ibbotson will miss the next three to four weeks with a more serious calf injury.

Michael Walters still remains a few weeks away from returning from a serious Achilles injury.

He is back running but still has a fair bit of work to do before returning to the senior side.