Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir expects ruckman Sean Darcy to be sidelined for up to five weeks with his calf injury and admits the Doig medallist may have to return through the WAFL to re-build his fitness.
But in better news for the club, Pat Voss trained well on Tuesday morning and looks set to play against the Western Bulldogs on Friday night after being a late withdrawal against Carlton due to illness.
Darcy injured his calf for the second time this season while he was recovering from the concussion he sustained against Collingwood during Gather Round.
“We don’t have a timeline, so to speak, but it’s a very similar injury to what he did during the pre-season, and he missed about five weeks with that. So we’re expecting something along those lines,” Longmuir said.
“We’ll play that by ear as the rehab unfolds. No player wants to be out of footy for longer than they need, but there’s different ways we can bring them back to AFL readiness.
“Whether that’s the WAFL or a little bit less game time to start instead of another rehab session, we’ll look at those sort of things as his rehab progresses.”
Darcy made a late appearance on the field during training on Tuesday but that was only to watch his teammates. He didn’t do any running and appeared to have completed a private session indoors.
Brandon Walker did some running after being concussed while playing in the WAFL on Saturday.
But Voss trained and while he didn’t do every part of the session, he kicked a goal during 18 v 18 match play.
“He did a light run (on Monday), but he’s still feeling feeling a little bit,” Longmuir said.
“It’s more about making sure he recovers, rather than getting him out there and doing it all today.”
Midfielder Jaeger O’Meara had surgery on his facial fractures and watched training from the sidelines on Tuesday. He will miss another three weeks.
Sam Sturt’s comeback from a knee reconstruction suffered another blow when he injured his quad after joining the rest of the team for training.
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INJURY UPDATE
Brandon Walker (concussion) 1 week
Jaeger O’Meara (face) 3 weeks
Sean Darcy (calf) 3-5 weeks
Sam Sturt (knee) TBA
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