Fremantle Executive General Manager of Football Joe Brierty has revealed that ruckman Sean Darcy is likely to miss the first fortnight of the home-and-away season after undergoing ankle surgery to remove a screw.

Speaking on 6PR Wide World of Sports on Saturday morning before the Indigenous All Stars and Fremantle match, Brierty told hosts Adam Papalia and Brad Hardie that the Club is hopeful Darcy will be available for AFL selection by as early as Round 3.

“He’s obviously had that clean-out after the infection when he came back from Qatar, so he’s still doing his knee program that he’s been working on,” Brierty said.

“He’ll build up probably over another week, have a two-week block of football training, and then be back in with the main group.

“We won’t see him in Round 1. The earlier rounds of the year—probably that round 3-to-5 block—is what we’re looking at.

“It’s really about how quickly he’ll pick back up following this infection and get back into his football load.”

The procedure involved removing a screw from Darcy’s right ankle, which was operated on in July 2023.

Brierty also confirmed that Michael Walters (knee) and trade acquisition Shai Bolton (calf) would be on restricted minutes for the Indigenous All Stars, with the pair both recently returning from injuries.

“We know how much this game means to ‘Sonny’ and ‘Bolts’, especially with their family and everyone else attending and the opportunity to play with some players from across the competition,” Brierty said.

“But both of them will be on reduced minutes and have a (playing time) cap.”

Michael Walters is captain of the Indigenous All Stars, with bouncedown commencing at 4.30pm WST at Optus Stadium.