David Mundy’s 19th pre-season may not have gone to plan after rolling his ankle pre-Christmas, but the elite midfielder still has his sights set on playing a full season in 2022.
The 36-year-old has missed just one game since 2018 and he feels ‘on track’ to be fit for Freo’s round one clash away to Adelaide on 20 March.
Since injuring his ankle, Mundy has been primarily restricted to running, however he took part in a handful of football drills away from the main group with Nat Fyfe, Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss before training on Wednesday.
“Absolutely, I think (I can play round one) the way I’m tracking, I’ll get plenty of minutes in the pre-season phase of football and I’m looking to join in some intraclubs and play the practise matches. Round one is still definitely the focus,” Mundy said.
The 2021 Doig Medal runner-up is taking confidence from his interrupted 2020, where he fractured his leg in the pre-season but played every game following the AFL’s resumption from the Covid shutdown.
“It’s been a bit of a stop start pre-season obviously, it’s something I went through a couple of years ago with my leg. It’s probably not been the smoothest journey but I’m tracking pretty well,” Mundy said.
“I was on crutches and a moon boot for a couple weeks which made Christmas a bit more challenging with a young family but I got off that pretty quick and I’ve been training for a few weeks now pretty solidly.”
The no.16 fittingly sits 16th in the AFL’s all-time games played list with 354 to his name. He could climb to as high as seventh in the most optimistic scenario where he plays a full season and finals.
However, Mundy said he’s not focusing on his legacy, instead getting his motivation from watching his teammates train from the sidelines.
“I’m trying to do as much work as I can now to catch up with the group, the boys are flying out there, so I take a lot of motivation out of that. I’m trying to progress as quickly as I can,” Mundy said.
“I still get a thrill out of game day and going out and representing Fremantle and playing with the boys. Everything else that comes with it (his games record) is a bit on the periphery.”
Mundy said the players weren’t focused on the uncertainty surrounding WA’s border closures, however he was hopeful of playing a full set of games in front of the Purple Army.
“Our focus is on preparing as best we can, nailing down our process and game plan,” Mundy said.
“We’re trying to build the chemistry and connection between each line and all the players, so under pressure, we can execute our game plan better than we did last year.
“It’s been an interrupted couple of years and hopefully we can move back to a bit of normality with borders opening up and the season of fixtures moving back to normal.
“To be able to play in front of a home crowd at Optus Stadium is something I get a huge thrill out of, even after 19 years in the system, and the rest of the boys are obviously really excited for that prospect.”
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