Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe is preparing for a full pre-season with the expectation of being fully recovered from shoulder surgery when training recommences later this year.
Freo’s first to fourth year players are set to report for duty in late November with the full group following a fortnight later.
Fyfe dislocated his shoulder in round 12 against the Western Bulldogs and played through the injury before having surgery following Freo’s round 19 clash against Sydney.
Speaking at Forrest Place to help announce the People's Parade on Grand Final eve, Fyfe said he was ‘ready to go’ for the start of the summer.
He added that he’s been staying up to date on Fremantle’s off-season plans in the upcoming trade and draft periods, recently spending time with the Club’s Victorian-based list management team.
“I’m always turned in,” Fyfe said.
“I missed the last four weeks of the season so I got to spend a lot of time in Melbourne working with our recruiters and list management and I got a bit of a handle of what the architecture of what our list looks like for next year.”
Fyfe said he had a bittersweet feeling about Perth hosting its first ever Toyota AFL Grand Final.
“I have mixed emotions with my Fremantle cap on. It’s just a bizarre feeling to have a prelim and Grand Final played at your home stadium without us or West Coast being involved in it,” Fyfe said.
“Putting that aside, just having a footy loving state get the opportunity to have the biggest game of the year right here at our brand new stadium, it’s unbelievable.”
The People's Parade will be held in the Murray Street Mall on Friday 24 September, finishing at Forrest Place.
It will involve fans of Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs starting at opposite ends of the mall with dueling brass bands playing their team songs before meeting at Forrest Place, with past legends of both teams being involved.
“If anyone’s been to Melbourne or the Grand Final week, starting with the Brownlow Medal and finishing with the Grand Final, you realise the energy that’s in the city the whole week, you don’t have to be at the ground to be able to enjoy it,” Fyfe said.
“Everyone gets on board, whether it’s their team playing or if they adopt one of the teams in it.
“It’s going to be a huge week. Everyone is starting to talk about it, whether they follow footy or not, the city is starting to get painted in the colours of the two teams and it’s just so awesome to have the grand final in our home state.”
