Fremantle veteran Michael Walters will miss the possibility to tackle his former mentor Ross Lyon this weekend, however Sam Sturt seems to have finished sufficient to earn a round-one AFL berth.
Walters has been battling an Achilles challenge in current weeks, forcing him out of Fremantle’s two pre-season video games.
The 32-year-old got here near proving his health in time for Sunday’s conflict with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, but it surely was deemed a run in a WAFL observe match could be a wiser possibility.
It means the 202-game veteran misses out on the possibility to battle in opposition to new Saints coach Lyon, who was a giant fan of Walters throughout his eight-year reign at Fremantle.
“He is nonetheless on a construct, and we need to make sure that we get that proper and never do something foolish and rush him in,” Dockers coach Justin Longmuir advised reporters on Thursday.
“He’ll play at Peel, he’ll play fairly restricted minutes.
“It is a actually good development for him. We simply need to make sure that we set him up for the season.
“He is a very essential participant for us, and we have to make it possible for we’re good about it.”
The absence of Walters is ready to pave the way in which for medium-sized ahead Sturt to play his first AFL match since spherical 4, 2021.
Sturt, the No.17 choose within the 2018 nationwide draft, booted three objectives in his AFL debut in 2020, however accidents and an absence of defensive stress pushed him down the pecking order.
The 22-year-old has impressed Longmuir over the summer time, and he is a agency likelihood to earn a spot in opposition to St Kilda.
“I am actually comfortable along with his pre-season kind,” Longmuir stated.
“We appear to have unlocked the depth required and the hassle required.
“He is been tremendous, not simply with ball in hand, however with the stress and the competition.”
Lyon’s tenure at St Kilda will begin with a severely depleted squad.
A complete of 14 gamers are at the moment on the membership’s damage listing, together with Max King, Tim Membrey, Nick Coffield, Jack Billings, and Zak Jones.
In distinction, Fremantle have only one participant on their damage listing – veteran Travis Colyer, who will miss about six weeks with a knee damage.
St Kilda star King can be sidelined for an extra six to 9 weeks with a shoulder damage, and he suffered one other blow at coaching on Wednesday when he strained his hamstring.
Though that setback is not anticipated to influence his return-to-play schedule, it typifies the damage curse that has struck the Saints.
