FREMANTLE runner Darcy Tucker is confident he isn't behind the eight-ball heading towards round one, despite only recently joining main training after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot in round 23.
Tucker pulled up sore from the narrow season-ending loss to Collingwood and scans revealed the issue, which kept him out of full training until Monday.
The 21-year-old, who avoided surgery, conceded he had lost some ground with his fitness, but wasn't concerned with more than 10 weeks left until the season opener against North Melbourne.
FULL FIXTURE Every round, every game
"Obviously, a couple of months off … yeah, you do lose a bit of fitness, but I did as much as I could with the bike, swimming and stuff like that in other areas," Tucker said.
"I had a couple of months off running and built up before Christmas.
I'll just get monitored from now and just keep building up into footy training and hopefully get a good block of training in before the season and should be good to go.
"They set a good program for me over the off-season with what I could do and I was able to maintain a fair bit of fitness, so I haven't lost too much.
"I'm confident I can get a good block of training in before the season and be as fit as I was last season and keep improving."
Tucker spent his pre-Christmas block working with boom recruit Jesse Hogan, who arrived from Melbourne nursing a stress fracture in his right foot.
"He's got no soreness or anything like that, so he'll be looking to build into football training over the next few weeks as well, which is good," Tucker said.
Tucker played 17 games last season, taking his career tally to 48 after three seasons in the west.
The North Ballarat product, taken with pick 27 in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft, has been touted as a potential inside midfielder and appears to have added some muscle this off-season.
However, Tucker sidestepped suggestions he could help fill the void left by dual Doig medallist Lachie Neale, believing youngsters Andy Brayshaw and Adam Cerra would see more midfield time, while he focuses on maintaining his flexibility in multiple roles.
"It always helps having that versatility and playing a variety of roles, because during the year lots of injuries happen and different spots open up," Tucker said.
"It always helps if I can play wing, half-forward and half-back, and I like those roles as well."
Tucker and Hogan were still on lighter duties on Wednesday at Cockburn, while Michael Walters (knee), Stephen Hill (quad), Luke Ryan and Brett Bewley were among those watching from the sidelines, and skipper Nat Fyfe withdrew from main training to run laps.
Harley Bennell joined in the majority of drills after creating unwanted headlines before New Year's Eve when he was asked to leave the Ocean Beach Hotel.
"I think Harley's tracking very well. On an individual program obviously, due to his issues calf-wise over the last couple of years," Tucker said.
"He's looking very fit, healthy and he got on the track a lot at the end of last year. We're looking forward to seeing Harley this year.
"It's hard for me to comment on it (the incident). I don't know the full details of the incident, but the playing group has no concerns of where Harley was at or that incident."
