Fremantle talls Jesse Hogan and Rory Lobb are not too far away from a return to playing, according to high performance manager Jason Weber.

Hogan was cleared of serious injury on Sunday, with scans confirming a right mid-foot sprain following Freo’s clash with Melbourne at the MCG the day prior.

In good news for Hogan, the sprain is unrelated to the navicular injury that sidelined him during last year’s finals.

“Investigations have shown that it is just a foot strain and there is no damage to his navicular stress fracture from last year,” Weber said.

“At this stage the doctors are still working through a timeframe to get him ready.

“It is certainly not a significant injury.”

Lobb is training strongly after being sidelined due to a foot fracture.

“Rory is training really well, he ran today and is in really good spirits,” Weber said.

“We are looking forward to a strong week from him.”

Stephen Hill is slated for a round 18 return after injuring his hamstring in his second game for 2019.

“Stephen was sprinting hard to the wing early in the third quarter,” Weber said.

“It was a ground ball and he had a swing at it for a kick but missed it.

“Unfortunately, that caused a hyper-extension to his knee which resulted in a hamstring injury.”

Harley Bennell is in good spirits around the club after suffering a significant right calf tear in Peel Thunder’s win over Perth on Saturday.

“Harley has had a significant injury to his calf and at this stage doctors are working through timeframes for the future,” Weber said.

“At this stage he is on crutches and is back in the club in good spirits.” 

Ruckman Aaron Sandilands has ticked another box in his return, taking part in a match simulation session over the weekend.

“Aaron is pushing very hard and had a great game simulation on the weekend,” Weber said.

“We’ll build him through this week into another simulation this coming weekend and then progress him from there.”

PlayerInjuryEstimated return
Rory LobbFoot2 weeks
Stephen HillHamstring3 weeks
Jesse HoganFootTBA
Harley BennellCalfTBA
Aaron SandilandsCalfTBA
Shane KerstenFootTBA
Matt TabernerFootSeason
Alex PearceAnkleSeason
Stefan GiroKneeSeason