Fremantle are hopeful that key position players Matt Taberner and Griffin Logue will be available for selection for Freo’s round 12 clash against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday at Optus Stadium.
Both Taberner (ankle) and Logue (calf) sat out last week’s clash against Port Adelaide with minor injuries.
High performance manager Phil Merriman said the pair were pushing to be fit for selection.
“Griffin had a little calf complaint last week at training and he’ll be a test to play this week,” Merriman said.
(Taberner) is in a similar boat. He’s a test to play and all things are pointing in the right direction with Tabs.”
In other good news for Freo’s tall timber, defender Alex Pearce is set to play his first full WAFL game since injuring his knee in round one against Melbourne.
Pearce played limited minutes against Subiaco last Saturday.
“It was great to see Alex play well. He got through his minutes at Peel and he’ll be unrestricted at Peel this week,” Merriman said.
“Following that, he’ll be available for selection.”
Small forward Sam Switkowski is set to miss at least one week due to a hamstring injury sustained against Port Adelaide.
Merriman said Fremantle would be conservative with his recovery.
“Sam had a very low-grade hamstring injury,” Merriman said.
“He’ll miss this week and we’ll grade him up and see how he goes in the weeks to come.”
Defender / midfielder Stephen Hill is set to make his return via the WAFL in the coming weeks.
“It’s great news that Stephen’s put together three months of really good work in the reconditioning program,” Merriman said.
“He’ll be playing Peel minutes next week and we’re really excited to see what Stephen can bring in the second half of the season.”
Brett Bewley is also a test to return to playing for Peel, while Merriman said Fremantle were looking to give forward Bailey Banfield an extra week to recover from an ankle injury.
INJURY LIST ROUND 12
Matt Taberner (ankle) - Test
Griffin Logue (calf) - Test
Brett Bewley (calf) - Test
Bailey Banfield (ankle) - 1 week
Stephen Hill (hamstring) - 1 week
Sam Switkowski (hamstring) - 1-2 weeks
Hayden Young (hamstring) - 3-5 weeks
Michael Frederick (ankle) - 8-10 weeks
Ethan Hughes (shoulder) - TBA
Joel Hamling (ankle) - TBA
Sam Sturt (knee) - Season
Heath Chapman (shoulder) – Season
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