FREMANTLE are confident Alex Pearce has avoided a season-ending knee injury but face further selection headaches after the defender and fellow backman Joel Hamling both limped out of their AFL loss to Melbourne.
Pearce was playing his first AFL game since fracturing his ankle in round 11, 2019 when he suffered a suspected MCL injury in the second quarter of Saturday afternoon's match at the MCG and was substituted out for Stefan Giro.
"We'll have to get it scanned but it looks like maybe an MCL (medial collateral ligament)," coach Justin Longmuir said.
"So he's going to miss a bit of time - it's not season-ending or anything like that but it'll probably be four-to-six-to-eight weeks, that sort of range - but we won't know until we get it scanned.
"But it's really disappointing for him.
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"He's better with it now. When you've been out for so long, you come back and play your first game and you get injured again and it's not looking good, you do get emotional and think 'why me?' and all of that sort of stuff.
"He's in better spirits now, but we'll get around him and support him and I know he'll do the work."
Pearce had been playing as a makeshift forward as the Dockers were without the likes of Michael Walters (hamstring), Rory Lobb (knee), Michael Frederick (calf), Sam Sturt (ankle) and Josh Treacy (suspension).
Hamling - who missed the entire 2020 season with ankle issues - added to the Dockers' injury woes in the final quarter.
"He's got an ankle injury on the same ankle as last year but it's not the same injury," Longmuir said.
"So we just think it's a ligament strain - he'll be touch-and-go for next week.
"(The two injuries are) devastating because they've missed a lot of footy, it's devastating because they are leaders and it's devastating because they're tall and we're missing a few of those at the moment.
"So we'll wrap our arms around Pearcey in particular (and) cross our fingers Joel gets up next week - because I thought he was in really good form.
"His last three weeks have been really good - so we need him out there."
The Dockers coach was optimistic Sean Darcy and Frederick would return to face GWS next week but Walters is "touch-and-go". - AAP
