After months of frustration, Fremantle forward Makeala Tuhakaraina could make her long-awaited AFLW return against Sydney on Saturday.
A shoulder injury and illness have kept the 19-year-old on the sidelines for the opening eight rounds of Season 7.
Senior Physio Gabby Charlton providing positive news in the Perth Radiological Injury Clinic update ahead of round nine.
“Tuks has been recovering from an illness and prior to that was recovering from a shoulder stabilisation,” Charlton said.
“We’ve just been managing both those conditions and she’s now had a solid couple of weeks on the track so she is a test to return.”
Veteran winger/forward Ebony Antonio continues to edge closer to comeback from an unlucky pre-season knee injury.
“Ebony was really touch and go for the Collingwood game and we just wanted to make sure her knee is one hundred percent” said Charlton.
“She’s worked so hard through her rehab and wasn’t quite there last weekend.”
Livewire utility Emma O’Driscoll has been cleared to play the Club’s first clash with the Swans after sustaining a hand injury in Sunday’s 29-point loss to Collingwood.
“Emma split the webbing in between two of her fingers,” Charlton revealed.
“She was able to play out the game, had that stitched up and it shouldn’t affect her football too much.”
The news isn’t so good for Irish import Orlagh Lally who won’t return until 2023 after suffering a shoulder injury at training last week.
“Orlagh had a mid-week incident where she ‘subluxed’ her shoulder,” Charlton said.
“Orlagh’s had previous surgery on this site so we’ve consulted specialists. We’re getting a few scans and deciding on the best path for Orlagh at the moment.”
Janelle Cuthberton, Gabby O’Sullivan, Tahlia Read and Sarah Wielstra have also been ruled out for the season after all being injured in Adelaide.
Charlton said: “They haven’t come back with the best results from some scans so we’ll just be prepping them for the 2023 season and making sure they’re good to go.”
INJURY LIST
Ebony Antonio (knee) – Test
Makaela Tuhakaraina (illness) – Test
Kara Antonio (hamstring) – TBA
Orlagh Lally (shoulder) – Season
Madi Scanlon (knee, wrist) – Season
Janelle Cuthbertson (ankle, knee) - Season
Mikayla Morrison (knee) - Season
Gabby O'Sullivan (shoulder) - Season
Tahlia Read (elbow) - Season
Matilda Sergeant (foot) - Season
Sarah Wielstra (knee) – Season
