Fremantle hope forward options Mikayla Morrison, Tara Stribley and Serena Gibbs are one week away from returning from injury as they scramble to cover star Aine Tighe, who has been ruled out for the season with a ruptured ACL.
But the Dockers also confirmed a fresh blow on Tuesday, with dour defender Jae Flynn set to miss at least one week in concussion protocols.
Tighe came off the ground during the Dockers’ last-gasp win over Melbourne on Saturday and it was confirmed on Monday she would miss the remainder of the season in a major blow to the club’s finals hopes.
The Dockers’ injury list includes former Carlton player Gibbs and fellow forward Morrison, as well as utility Tunisha Kikoak, who injured her shoulder against Adelaide two weeks ago.
Kikoak has been listed as a test to face St Kilda in Melbourne on Friday afternoon, while Gibbs, Stribley and Morrison are a week away.
Fremantle face Geelong at GMHBA Stadium next Tuesday as part of a quick-fire Victorian double-header.
Dockers head of AFLW high-performance Corey Morris said Morrison will be “potentially available for selection” if she gets through training on Wednesday.
And he expected the other forwards would make more strides this week.
“She (Stribley) returned to run over the weekend. We’ll look to continue to progress her this week, and then hopefully see her return next week,” Morris said.“Similar to Tara, (Gibbs is) hopefully a week away. She got into full football last week, so we’ll look to do that again this week and then see her return.”
Flynn collided with Demons player Eliza McNamara in the opening minutes and experienced delayed symptoms.
“She (Flynn) unfortunately fell into concussion protocols over the weekend, so we’ll look to progress her through the protocols over a week or two,” Morris said.
Meanwhile, West Coast will be without Jaide Britton and Sophie McDonald for their trip to play Greater Western Sydney, with both players in concussion protocols.
They have listed Abbygail Bushby, Sasha Goranova and former Dockers forward Roxy Roux as tests.
