Fremantle has received some positive news on the injury front with scans revealing that Michael Walters’ knee injury is not as severe as anticipated, according to high performance manager Jason Weber.
The small forward limped off the ground in the second quarter of Fremantle’s clash with West Coast on Sunday at Optus Stadium.
Weber said that Walters’ time on the sidelines could be as short as two weeks.
“With Michael’s knee, there was originally concern for his PCL which he injured last year,” Weber said.
“That hasn’t been the case. He’s injured a small ligament that supports his knee cap, so he’ll be progressed now as his symptoms warrant.
“We’re hoping for two to three weeks for his return.”
Midfielder Harley Bennell could make his return to football via the WAFL as soon as this week, according to Weber.
“Harley’s been training strongly and we’ll put him through training this week and see how he progresses and pulls up,” Weber said.
“We’d like to get him to match committee this week and get him on the field as soon as we can.”
Brady Grey is also a test to return to game-action this weekend, with the club being conservative with the forward due to his history with hamstring injuries.
“Brady had a small hamstring injury a couple of weeks ago and we gave him a little bit of extra time on the basis of his injury from last year,” Weber said.
“He’s trained really strongly. We’ll get him into team training this week and see how he recovers.
“We’re hopeful we’ll get him up an available.”
Both Sean Darcy (knee) and Hugh Dixon (ankle) have progressed to be 4-5 weeks away from their returns.
“Sean’s moving along quite nicely. The swelling’s come out of his knee and he’s starting to train strongly,” Weber said.
“Hugh sits in a similar boat to Sean, he’s progressing well. The ankle’s doing exceptionally well and we’re looking forward to seeing him back soon.”
Griffin Logue (foot) and Lee Spurr (knee) could be making their returns to Fremantle by the end of the month, with the pair listed as 2-3 weeks away.
“Griffin’s up and running, we’ve got him on the field and he’s progressing strongly and feeling more confident all the time,” Weber said.
“Lee’s up and running and doing really well and we’re looking forward to getting him back in the next couple of weeks.”
Weber said Matt Taberner (foot) is yet to progress into the next phase of his recovery, while small forward Sam Switkowski (hamstring) suffered a setback at training.
“There’s not a lot of change from last week with Matt, he’s in the recovery phase at the moment in a boot so we’ll see him progress onto some more structured rehab in the coming weeks,” Weber said.
“Sam was a test but unfortunately, he had another incident at training last week so he’ll be out for a number of weeks.”
Midfielder Bradley Hill is continuing his recovery running on a reduced-bodyweight treadmill.
“Brad’s progressed his running to supported treadmill running and we’ll continue along that path as symptoms permit,” Weber said.
