Fremantle midfielder Nat Fyfe is confident he’ll be ready to tackle AFL rivals Richmond on Saturday despite his freak accident at a hotel last weekend.
Fyfe’s pre-game routine of playing around with a footy went horribly awry last Saturday when he slipped on his suitcase and rolled his left ankle just hours before the match.
The setback ruled Fyfe out of the 28-point loss to Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, but subsequent scans have cleared him of any serious damage.
Fyfe will be named to take on the Tigers at Patersons Stadium if he makes it through the club’s main training session on Thursday.
“At the moment the forecast is looking really good. I’ve got a lot of physio this week and I have to get through a training session tomorrow,” Fyfe said on Wednesday.
“If everything goes according to plan I should be right to line up on Saturday.
“I’ve done this ankle before and it’s been a relatively quick turnaround when I’ve injured it before.”
Fyfe said he felt deeply disappointed when he realised his suitcase slip-up would rule him out against the Crows.
But the 20-year-old knows it will become a funny story down the track, and says he’ll make sure the floor is clear before he goes through his pre-match routine again.
“I think in 10 years time I’ll probably look back and have a bit of a chuckle,” he said.
Fyfe’s return could be part of a crucial triple boost for the ninth-placed Dockers, who will also welcome back premier defender Luke McPharlin from suspension and possibly ruckman Aaron Sandilands from a toe injury.
Sandilands hasn’t played since suffering his latest bout of ‘turf toe’ in round 11, but the 211cm giant will be given the green light to resume if he can prove his fitness on Thursday.
Fyfe said the return of Sandilands would allow Fremantle’s midfield group to be more attacking around the stoppages.
“Aaron’s missed a lot of footy, so he’ll have to find his groove as well,” Fyfe said.
“But I’m sure over a number of weeks … when we get that continuity together with Aaron and the midfield group, we’re hopeful we can start really dictating to other midfields.”
The Dockers (11-8) are only percentage adrift of eighth spot, but Richmond (9-10) will have to rely on a number of results to go their way if they are to snare an unlikely finals berth.