Fremantle coach Ross Lyon hopes Aaron Sandilands can play again this year despite the star ruckman suffering another calf injury.
Sandilands hasn’t played since injuring his right calf muscle in the warm-up to the round 15 loss to Brisbane.
The veteran was expected to return for Sunday’s clash with Hawthorn at Optus Stadium, but those plans were scuppered after he suffered a fresh injury at training on Wednesday.
The injury is expected to sideline Sandilands for around three weeks.
But given Fremantle only have five remaining matches, Sandilands will find it tough to play again this year if his recovery is slower than expected.
“It’s disappointing for Aaron, it’s disappointing for us, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Lyon said.
“My understanding is he can rehabilitate and get back to play, so that will be the aim.”
Sandilands is out of contract at the end of the season, and Lyon was reluctant to talk about the big man’s future in public.
But on the back of Sandilands’ strong form earlier in the season, the odds are looking good that the 35-year-old will play on.
Sean Darcy will lead the ruck against the Hawks after recovering from a groin injury, while Stephen Hill (quad), Andrew Brayshaw (groin), and Hayden Ballantyne (ankle) could also return.
The next five weeks loom as a critical time for goalsneak Ballantyne, who is keen to earn a new one-year deal.
Lyon said he considered handing Harley Bennell an AFL recall for this week, but decided against it.
“He needs to ramp up his run a bit more,” Lyon said.
“He was the first to say, ‘Look, I think I definitely need another game down there, I need to improve my football’.
“So that’s coming from Harley. But we like the durability, we like he’s stacked up another game, another training session.”