Fremantle’s players are in good condition post the bye and are ready for Thursday’s match with Carlton, according to sports science manager Jason Weber.
The squad returned to the club late last week and has had training sessions on Sunday and Tuesday.
Weber said the first order of business was to allow the players to recover from a strong load of work before the bye.
“We built with some running in the latter stages of the week and, over the weekend, we had an opportunity to put in some really good strength sessions and get the boys ready,” he said.
“I think Tuesday’s training session showed they were back up and running extremely quickly and certainly where we want them to be, so I think we’re ready for Thursday.”
Weber is one of the best high performance professionals in the country. Before joining Freo, he was the strength & conditioning coach for the Wallabies from 2002 to 2007.
He said the challenges of working with elite sporting organisations remained the same everywhere.
“You’ve got 45 athletes that have all had different stimulus, from games and training, and getting them individually correct is always the balancing act,” Weber said.
The next challenge after Thursday night’s clash with the Blues will be to prepare the squad for a trip to Geelong off a nine-day break.
Weber said that would give Freo a great training window to enter the match against the Cats.
“We’re a working team, we know if we train well, we play well,” he said.
“It gives us a fantastic opportunity leading into Geelong to really prepare and three good football sessions to focus in, and to get a good strength block in leading into the final three games of the home and away season.”
Weber and the sports science team will then be tested thoroughly in the week leading up to Freo’s round 23 fixture against Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium.
The club will go into that match off a six-day break having returned from Brisbane - football’s longest away trip.
Freo fit and ready after bye: Weber
Sports science manager Jason Weber goes over the club’s post-bye preparations