A fan favourite could be welcomed back into the Freo forward line on Saturday, with Hayden Ballantyne in line for selection against Geelong.
Ballantyne suffered a hamstring injury in Freo’s first pre-season game but has since returned to training and should be available for selection, according to sports science manager Jason Weber.
“Hayden’s progressing really well, and got into training today and completed it at 100 per cent,” Weber said.
“We anticipate he’ll be fully available for selection later this week.”
Anthony Morabito continues to rehab from a hamstring injury he suffered prior to the NAB Challenge.
“Anthony is progressing along really well, we introduced speed into his program today so he’s right on track and has his strength up and going,” he said.
Weber said key position player Michael Apeness has spent extensive time in rehab due to knee injuries but is nearing a return to football activities.
“He’s had a really complicated knee injury,” he said.
“At this stage he’s progressing into football type activities in our rehab setting, and we look forward to getting him into football in that 3-5 week timeline.”
Freo’s Irish rookie Sean Hurley was having a strong pre-season but will spend much of 2016 in rehab according to Weber.
“Unfortunately, Sean had to have hip surgery last week, and that’s going to take the better part of the year to get sorted.”
