The Freo skipper will miss up to six weeks, with his left plantaris tendon, which sits alongside the Achilles tendon, set to be operated on next week.
Pavlich had the same procedure on his right leg at the end of last season, one of three surgeries that delayed the start of his 2013 pre-season campaign.
The 31-year-old admitted the day was nearing when he’d have to consider giving the game away, but it wasn’t now.
“I don’t think I’m done,” he told Channel 7 on Thursday.
“I think I’ve got a lot more football to play for Fremantle and I’m really looking forward to the second half of the season.”
Fremantle’s greatest player has had a quiet start to the 2013 season, and while he has never used his injury as an excuse, it has clearly hindered him.
Pavlich said he was sore following last Friday night’s loss to Essendon, a game he was held goalless in.
He attempted to train during this week in an effort to get up for Freo’s crucial clash with Hawthorn this Saturday.
“We tried to do little bit of training on Tuesday and that wasn’t working,” Pavlich said.
“We tried again on Thursday and, unfortunately, as much as I wanted to play and lead the guys on Saturday afternoon and for the next fewweeks, I couldn’t get going.”
Pavlich said the injury wasn’t preventing him from running and moving, but the demands of AFL football were simply too great to compete in when he wasn’t 100 per cent.
“AFL footy, the way it is now, is completely explosive,” he said.
“It’s hard and it’s fast, and as much as I can get close enough to full speed, the agility and the short, sharp movements and explosive actions of AFL footy, as much as I’d like to say I can, I can’t at the moment.”
