Fremantle star Hayden Young has suffered a minor setback after re-aggravating an old injury.
In the final round of the home and away season, Young suffered a fractured leg against Port Adelaide and has been tending to the injury, placed on a modified program since.
Dockers EGM of Football Joe Brierty said the 23-year-old received a knock during training and has been "pretty sore," limiting his output.
"He's (Young) progressed pretty well after the break, and then probably about a week and a half ago, he had a knock straight on the point where the actual break had occurred," Brierty said on SportFM.
"He had a contusion there, which has been quite sore, so you probably haven't seen as much of him in the last couple of weeks.
“He's just been doing cross-training and managing that. There is no further break or anything like that; it's just pretty sore.
"He's just coming to the back of that off-leg program just to make sure we manage that really well, and he'll transition back into footy, and we don't see him missing any kind of pre-season training."
Ruckman Sean Darcy is also on the mend from a persistent knee injury that kept him to 12 games in 2024.
Darcy had arthroscope surgery shortly after the season ended to help rectify the problem.
The club has been "impressed" with his progress, and he plans to return to full training in the new year.
"We've been really impressed with the way Sean (Darcy) has been applying himself," Brierty continued.
"He's now transitioned to on-field running and is upping his speed and his load.
"With all things going really well, we'll plan to have him ready for the start of the year."
Pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) signing Quinton Narkle is also being eased into life at his third AFL club.
Narkle was delisted by Port Adelaide at the end of 2024 and picked up by the Dockers, reuniting with best mate Shai Bolton at the West Australian club.
However, the Dockers are cautious of over-loading their recruit, given his injury history.
"He's obviously at a good age and maturity and has been around the AFL system for a long time," Brierty said.
"Whether he's playing as a high half-forward, a wing, or even coming off half-back, he uses the ball really well.
"It's a really important aspect of our list now as we try and add elements that we think can assist us across the year.
“He had a navicular injury at the start of last year, and it's been something we've been managing with him coming into our program because we do have a high-speed running program.
“We'll look for him to be doing on-field running later this week and transitioning into footy."
Fremantle are expecting all three to be raring to go come the beginning of 2025.
