Alex Pearce’s right ankle injury has not been affected or exacerbated by his history of leg injuries, according to high performance manager Jason Weber.
Weber said Pearce will undergo further fitness testing prior to determining his availability to face Adelaide on Sunday.
“Alex obviously went down on that right ankle quite heavily in a contest in the third quarter,” Weber said.
“It’s the same leg he broke and had issues with last year but, thankfully, there’s nothing wrong with his leg per se, just his ankle.
“That’s being investigated today and we’ll know a little bit more later in the week.”
Weber remains hopeful that ruckman Aaron Sandilands will also be given every chance to face Adelaide.
Sandilands suffered a concussion in round 10 and missed last week’s clash with Collingwood.
“At this stage, Aaron’s still a test,” Weber said.
“He’s got a couple of hurdles to jump through but I’m confident that he’ll continue to apply himself to those.”
In positive news for Fremantle’s forward stocks, first-year player Hugh Dixon is a chance to return to football this week via the WAFL.
Dixon injured his ankle in round one against East Fremantle and may return to face West Perth on Saturday.
“Hugh’s progressed really well with his ankle injury,” Weber said.
“We look forward to having him as a test this week. If he gets through training he’ll be available for match committee.”
Weber expects Sean Darcy to follow Dixon’s steps the following week, with the ruckman a chance to return to footy before the bye.
“Sean’s doing very well, he’s a week behind Hugh who’s been his partner through this recovery process,” Weber said.
“He’s training strongly. He’ll train with the team this week and we’ll look for him being a test next week.”
Weber reiterated Fremantle will take a cautious approach with Harley Bennell after he came off during the second term while playing for Peel on Saturday.
The midfielder is a test to play for Peel this week.
“Harley had some calf tightness, as was noted in the media,” Weber said.
“At this stage he’s presented to medical staff and he’s presented ok so we’ll see how he progresses through the week.”
Running midfielder Bradley Hill (1-2 weeks) remains a chance to return before the bye while there is no timeframe on Stephen Hill.
“Brad’s stepping into more running this week so we’re happy that he’s progressing,” Weber said.
“On the nature of Stephen’s injury, it’s such that we want to give him every chance and not specify a time frame to allow him to progress based on how he presents on a daily basis.
“Where we can, we’ll get him moving forward.”
Weber said that both Brady Grey (two weeks) and Sam Switkowski (four weeks) are getting closer to their returns from hamstring injuries.
“Both are doing really well,” Weber said.
“Obviously they had issues in the past with their hamstrings so we’re looking after them and making sure all the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted.”
