Pearce ruled out of North clash as Freo quartet push case
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce has been ruled out of Saturday's game against North Melbourne but the club is hopeful he will be cleared of a leg injury in time to play against Essendon next week.
Pearce sat out the team's win over Gold Coast before the bye after a scan uncovered a stress reaction in his leg.
The Dockers were wary about pushing their star defender given his history of bone injuries and he will be given more time to recover before playing again.
'He's begun his on-field running program,' Dockers High Performance Manager Phil Merriman said.
'We've got a volume build for Alex. he's certainly not playing this week but we are looking to get him going for Essendon.'
The Dockers will only have a five-day break leading into the Essendon game, so Pearce would have faced extra physical pressure if he'd tried to play against the Kangaroos and Bombers.
He rushed back from a broken arm last season and suffered another injury which cost him the rest of the season, so the Dockers will be careful about his return.
Fremantle's lengthy injury list is getting significantly smaller with Michael Walters (knee), Jaeger O'Meara (hamstring/foot), Karl Worner (hamstring) and Quinton Narkle (knee) all set to be available for selection.
'(Worner's hamstring) came up really well. he's actually been training since last Friday without any issues. We'll test him but he's likely to be available to play,' Merriman said.
'Quinton has been quicker than we thought he would be. he's been training for most of last week and this week so he'll be a test to play. Jaeger and Sonny also progressed really well. They'll be tests to play this week.' Michael Walters. Credit: Ross Swanborough / The West Australian
Brandon Walker has sped through his recovery from a shoulder injury and has resumed training with teammates. Walker hasn't played since round two but could be available to return next week.
'Walks has progressed really well. The plan would be to introduce him to contact later on this week with a test to play the following week,' Merriman said.
Forward Sam Sturt has suffered another setback is his return from a knee injury and no longer has a timeline on his return.
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