Kane Cornes calls out Nat Fyfe’s return preparation after injuring his hamstring – Townsville Bulletin

Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe could be sitting on the sidelines watching on as his club run out for the Western Derby this weekend.

The dual Brownlow Medal winning superstar said his recovery from the weekend’s victory against St Kilda wasn’t what he had hoped and puts him in doubt to line up against cross-town rivals West Coast on Sunday night.

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Fyfe injured his hamstring in his side’s round four loss against Gold Coast, but missed only one game. A time frame that left many commentators believing he had rushed his return.

“The hamstring probably hasn’t pulled up as well as I would have liked and that’s not uncommon with hamstrings, just to get a little general awareness,” Fyfe said.

“We’ll monitor that throughout the week. We’re a bit compromised with how much training we can do at the moment but I will do everything I can to be available for selection.

“The cork will just take some time as well.”

Fyfe spent the entire second half playing deep forward.
Fyfe spent the entire second half playing deep forward.

Port Adelaide premiership star turned media personality Kane Cornes was highly sceptical of the skipper putting his name up for selection and called him out during Channel 9’s The Sunday Footy Show for his lead up to the contest.

“I saw the images this week of seeing him surfing with Mick Fanning, I’m not sure how rigorous he participated in the surfing action but this is a week after doing a hamstring,” he said.

“Nat Fyfe was terrific in the first half (against St Kilda) but when the game is on the line in the last quarter, he’s nowhere to be seen. I hope for Fremantle’s sake and Nat Fyfe’s sake that there isn’t an issue with that hammy.

“I reckon it’ll look pretty ordinary if you’ve got an issue and you’ve been out surfing.

“I don’t get the obsession with AFL players doing extra-curricular activities during the season. You’ve got 15 weeks holiday at the end of the season to go surfing and wakeboarding, I don’t think it’s a good look for Fyfe to be going surfing a week after doing a hamstring.”

After seeing the comments from Fyfe to reporters on Tuesday, Cornes was quick off the mark on social media as he said he wasn’t at all surprised by the outcome.

Despite the noise, Fyfe said he remains confident of taking the field for the Sunday night blockbuster as the Dockers look to make it three wins in a row and continue their climb up the ladder.

“(I’m) pretty confident (I’ll play) but there’s always a chance with these things, they could go either way,” Fyfe said.

“We’ve just got to wait and see how it responds and pulls up.

“As I’ve previously done a hamstring injury on this side we’re a little more cautious than we’d otherwise be.”

Originally published as ‘Pretty ordinary’: Great’s damning criticism

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