By Alex Fair, The Advocate
Alex Pearce is taking a ’one step at a time” approach to his recovery from his fractured tibia in his right leg .
But a round 1 return for Fremantle is his aim.
The key defender from Ulverstone season saw his season end after suffering the injury in round 9 against Richmond.
“I had surgery three weeks ago to get my plate removed from my leg, “ Pearce said on Monday.
“I’ve been running on our AlterG treadmill downstairs for the last couple of weeks, so I’m hoping that I’ll be training with the group in the next few weeks. It’s a very big thing to come back from, so it’s all very slow and one step at a time.”
At the moment there is a “gym focus” with “plenty of weights” for the Tasmanian after cryotherapy was “tested out” in a post-season trip to the US with Nat Fyfe.
“It (his leg) been really good over the last week or two.
“I’ve been able to resume some running so that’s been really positive and with my weights and similar things like that I’m finding my strength is coming back so I’ve had a really good few weeks.
“I’ll be ready to go for round one all things going well. I don’t know specifically when I’ll be back, but (the pre-season competition) is back the cards.
“All I’m thinking about is getting back out there. It was pretty tough to watch all of these weeks off the field.”
Pearce, the 37th pick in the 2013 national draft, has played 21 games.