Watch Hayden Crozier's comeback trail on YouTube
The 18-year-old woke up with a sore throat the following morning, on the day the team was flying out to Melbourne for the blockbuster with the Magpies.
The club initially thought it was tonsillitis, but further tests revealed Crozier had contracted the viral infection glandular fever.
“I got sent home,” Crozier said.
“I was in bed for a week. In terms of exercise and weights, I wasn’t allowed to do anything for a month.”
Instead of playing his fourth consecutive AFL game, the Victorian recruit didn’t appear again for Fremantle in season 2012.
Crozier said he had entered the 2013 pre-season campaign feeling good, but admitted he’s still got a little bit of work to do to reach full fitness.
“Over the break it was tough because my running was building up, but I wasn’t doing as much as what the other guys were doing in the off-season,” he said.
“Towards the end of the break my workload got lifted up.
“I came back fairly fit - not as fit as I’d like to be - but hopefully I can keep improving on that.”
At a recent pre-season training session, Crozier was spotted having a lengthy chat with Lyon.
“Ross spoke about the opportunity ahead,” Crozier said.
“He knows that this pre-season is a big one for our second year players.
“You hear a lot of things about players getting second-year blues, so Ross said it’s up to us to work as hard as we can and have a massive pre-season and see where it takes us.”
Crozier won’t be putting a target on how many games he aims to play in 2013.
“I just want to go out and play consistent footy and try and stay injury free and see where it takes me.”
Watch Hayden Crozier's comeback trail on YouTube
