Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Fremantle have dodged more pain being added to their grand final defeat with captain Alex Pearce avoiding a worst-case scenario following scans on his Achilles.
Pearce suffered the injury in the third quarter of the grand final, with his right leg buckling underneath him while chasing a loose ball on the wing.
The veteran lay face-down on the turf for several moments before being helped off the ground, and was later walking with the assistance of crutches. He sported a moonboot upon arrival in Perth on Sunday.
The Dockers were hopeful it wasn’t a full tear, with scans revealing Pearce suffered a partial tear of his right Achilles tendon as well as a calf strain.
“Thankfully Alex has not had a complete rupture of his Achilles tendon, and he will not require surgery,” footy boss Joe Brierty said.
“Scans have revealed a partial tear of his Achilles tendon and also a significant calf strain.
“Our performance health team will continue to consult specialist advice and assess the timeline for his rehabilitation program. As it stands, we expect Alex to return to training in pre-season.”
A full tear would have ruled out Pearce for the entirety of the 2027 season as the Dockers hope to avenge their grand final heartbreak.
The 31-year-old had been matched up on Logan Morris, keeping the Brisbane forward to just three disposals until his injury.
It would prove to be a massive turning point as the Dockers were forced to reshuffle their defence with Morris kicking three final quarter goals to ultimately steal the win for the Lions.
“It was obviously shattering for him that he got injured I didn’t really know what happened to him, but at three-quarter time we knew that he was out. We wanted to keep putting pressure on their defenders and get the ball in there to one-on-ones,” Morris told The West Australian.
“It changed a bit in terms of their match-ups. We kind of isolated one key forward at times, and were able to expose them late in the last quarter. We got the ball going forward to one-on-ones, and we were able to execute that and kick goals.”
