Sean Darcy will miss next Saturday’s clash against Geelong after the ruckman was concussed in Fremantle’s win against Carlton on Saturday at Optus Stadium.
The incident occurred early in the final term when Charlie Curnow accidentally stepped on his head after a marking contest.
Darcy will enter the AFL’s concussion protocols, which rules him out from playing for at least 12 days.
In his post-match media conference, Senior Coach Justin Longmuir ruled out using forward Rory Lobb as a lone ruck against Geelong, meaning Lloyd Meek is the likely replacement to lead the ruck.
Meek is set to face West Perth for Peel tomorrow at Lane Group Stadium in Mandurah, while Lobb kicked three goals with his five marks and 26 hit outs against Carlton.
“Sean is concussed. He’ll enter the AFL’s concussion protocols and he’ll miss next week. That’s all I can say on it at the moment,” Longmuir said.
“We probably won’t (play Lobb as the sole ruck) he’s just so important to us as a forward.
“I’ve been really impressed with the contest he gives, to bring the ball to ground is really important because it’s allowing us to go to work at ground level.
“Without that, our small forwards can’t pressure. He’s been terrific with his contests all year.”
Longmuir said it would be tight to fit Heath Chapman and Hayden Young into Fremantle’s team against Geelong.
The pair cannot exit the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols on Thursday at the earliest, the day Fremantle fly to Geelong.
If cleared, they will only have Thursday morning’s training session to prove their fitness.
“We’ll wait and see, it’s a case by case scenario as they come out of the Health and Safety Protocols. I think they’ll come out Thursday,” Longmuir said.
“We’ll just have to wait how they pull up before we travel. We’ll get to you later on the week with that.”
Longmuir praised Griffin Logue and the versatile James Aish for their efforts in covering the loss of Chapman and Young.
“Griff’s obviously in good form and contained his opponent and played his role,” Longmuir said.
“We also have Aishy, he’s a bit of a Mr Fix It to be honest, he can play anywhere on the ground. He missed a lot of pre-season and was made to earn his stripes to get his match fitness up before we brought him into the side.
“He’s played inside, wing and now back in his four or five games back. He’s reliable and we can plug him in anywhere.
“Although we missed Youngy and Chappy, he was pretty seamless and we’ve got a number of players in good form who we feel can step up at AFL level. It was pleasing.”
Match report: Fremantle go 5-1
