FREMANTLE star Nat Fyfe will miss the next two weeks with inflammation in the fibula in his left leg.
The Brownlow Medal favourite has endured injury problems since receiving a nasty cork in his right leg from Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell in round 15.
He played the following two weeks before missing rounds 18 and 19 with a groin problem that was related to the cork. On the weekend he gathered 21 touches but only managed five kicks.
He will now be rested for the matches against Melbourne and Port Adelaide ahead of the finals to allow the inflammation to settle. The Dockers are confident he should be fit for the qualifying final.
Fyfe's injury increases the chances of other Brownlow Medal fancies, including Todd Goldstein, Matthew Priddis, Patrick Dangerfield and Sam Mitchell.
The only players to miss more than two games in past 20 years and win the Brownlow are Chris Judd (2010, three games missed), Gary Ablett (2009, three) and Jimmy Bartel (2007, two).
Leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins told AFL.com.au that periostitis in the fibula was unusual and more often occurred in the tibia, which formed the well-known complaint of shin splints.
He also said while Fyfe's break would help, it was no guarantee to resolve the issue before finals.
"In the fibula, it will be a hot bone spot, which is inflammation of the surface of the bone, because that's called the periosteum," Larkins said.
"It's a terrible thing to treat quickly. Rest is the main thing, there's not a lot of medication or injections or other formal therapy they can have.
"It's notoriously slow to recover from and can certainly take more than two weeks in many cases to settle down, so while the two weeks will be beneficial, he's still at risk of a recurrence if he returns in the third week.
"It's probably the beginning of a stress fracture from an overload of running."
News of Fyfe's injury sent tremors through betting markets which had the Docker at $1.60 to win the Brownlow prior to this latest injury news. He quickly drifted to $2 with CrownBet, with last year's winner Matt Priddis firming from $4.50 to $4 and Todd Goldstein from $6 into $5.
In better news for the Dockers, skipper Matthew Pavlich trained on Tuesday as he aims to return from an Achilles issue against Melbourne on Sunday.
Teammate Michael Johnson said Pavlich trained during the Dockers closed session on Tuesday at Fremantle Oval.
Johnson admitted the Dockers missed Pavlich’s leadership up forward in their loss to North Melbourne last weekend.
"He warmed up with the crew and then went off onto the sideline with the fitness staff,” Johnson said.
The Medal winner who missed more games than Fyfe
"(He's just) getting up and going, moving around.
Are Fyfe's Brownlow hopes dashed? Check out AFL.com.au's Brownlow predictor
"He would've done something yesterday. He's just getting himself right for the weekend.
"We sort of missed him on the weekend with his leadership and his forward pressure so hopefully the big fella is back."
The Dockers also received a boost this week with the news Hayden Ballantyne appears likely to be ready for the first final. Ballantyne is recovering from surgery on a torn pectoral muscle he suffered against Carlton in round 16.
Ballantyne has been running and is hoping to get back into training with the group next week.
Johnson said Ballantyne would be an important piece of the puzzle if he can get back for the start of the finals.
"He brings the forward pressure we have been lacking over the last couple of weeks and that experience up forward," Johnson said.
"I think that will help (Chris) Mayne and Michael Walters out.
"Hayden has ticked all of the boxes so far in his rehab and the good thing with a pectoral injury is that he could still run and do his normal running so he is still fit and ready to go.
"Hopefully over the next couple of weeks he can tick those last couple of boxes and he should be fine."
