Defender Alex Pearce has reached a key milestone on the road back to playing football, according to high performance manager Jason Weber.
Pearce hasn’t played since breaking his leg in round nine of the 2016 season and Weber revealed that the 22-year-old has commenced running as a part of his rehabilitation program.
“Alex has had a really challenging period but thankfully, he’s getting a lot of that behind him now,” Weber said.
“He’s back running and to full lifting and progressing really well.”
Weber had a positive update on Tommy Sheridan and rookie Taylin Duman, who are expected to be available for selection.
“Tommy’s training really well,” Weber said.
“His return from a hamstring injury has been extended by a week, but he’s been really good for the past week and we expect to have him available for match committee.
“Taylin had a lumber disc issue a week or two ago. He’s trained really well and is coming on strongly over the past week.
“Like Tommy, he’ll be available for match committee.”
Weber said that talented midfielder Harley Bennell is continuing to build at Peel, despite playing the past three weeks on limited minutes.
Due to multiple calf injuries, the former no.2 draft pick is yet to play a game for Fremantle since his arrival in the 2016 trade period.
“Despite the fact that Harley’s game-time hasn’t gone up significantly, his output per game is really starting to improve,” Weber said.
“We’re very happy with his progress and we look to continue that over the coming weeks.”
Forward Michael Apeness, who injured his PCL playing for the Peel reserves against Claremont on Saturday 6 May, has recommenced work in the gym.
“Michael’s had a challenging year, but he’s back in the gym,” Weber said.
“He’s not up to running yet, but he’s certainly very close and on schedule for his program.”
