Freo Captain Alex Pearce's Bold Strategy for 2024 Injury Comeback

‘I wasn’t allowed to sweat at the time’ | 03:24

When Alex Pearce broke his arm for a second time in the space of a few weeks, the Dockers were still sitting comfortably in the top four.

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So it was only natural for the Fremantle skipper to shrug off his disappointment and throw himself back into injury rehab in a bid to return in time for the finals, which were just over a month away.

While Fremantle would ultimately miss the top eight after a horror four-game losing streak to see out 2024, behind the scenes Pearce was putting his body through the wringer in the hopes of rejoining teammates.

Speaking to foxfooty.com.au, Pearce revealed the extreme lengths he went to just to try and get back for the ‘Flagmantle’ dream.

Alex Pearce broke his left arm twice in the space of a few weeks. Picture: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

“The plan was if we made finals, I’d give it a crack to try and play,” he said.

“It would have been two or three weeks’ rest more than the last (arm break back in Round 16).

“I’d spent a month going to a hospital using a hyperbaric chamber once a day to try and help heal the wound, help with some bone healing. There’s good evidence around that so that became part of the preparation.

“During that period as well, I remember going out and training by myself.

“I still wasn’t allowed to sweat at the time. Sweat can get into the wound and cause infection, so it was getting quite cold at that stage of the year. But we had a big fan out there, ice buckets and I was out there training.

“I’d train for five minutes and then I’d come and stand in the fan and get the ice buckets over me.

“I was down pretty much to my shorts, no top on – it’s about 10 degrees, so I wouldn’t sweat.

“In my mind, that was the plan (to play finals).

“I would have played and taken the risk again, but the only silver lining about how our season finished and we ended up not making finals is I didn’t go out there and break it again. It would have been a potential possibility.”

It was a sad finish to 2024 for Pearce, who was initially injured against the Gold Coast on June 23 and underwent surgery where he had at least 10 screws and a plate inserted into his arm.

Freo Captain Alex Pearce's Bold Strategy for 2024 Injury Comeback

He was in his first game back when he copped another knock to the same arm against Melbourne on July 21 – and it ended up being season over from there.

“Leading into that game, I was really confident. We knew there were some risks involved with playing with the wound not fully healed and some other things,” he shared.

“But we thought the bone itself had healed enough and it would be fine.

“Unfortunately, calculated wrong and got injured again. It was a bit freakish.

“We didn’t expect it to happen like it did. It broke again where my screws went in to the plate.

“It was clearly a disappointing time for it to happen because things were going well – the team was going well. Particularly as captain, you want to be out there and leading us to finals.”

Pearce said he never considered his season was done after the second break – instead he committed to push to win his club a maiden premiership.

“We’re in this industry where we’re out there to win premierships and win games of footy. That’s my job. Particularly as a captain, I wanted to get out there and prove to my teammates that I would put my body on the line and risk it for them and for the club,” he said.

“It was never, even when I played that first game, I wasn’t concerned in my mind that I was going to re-injure it.

“I chatted with our surgeon and docs and they were really clear that they didn’t want to put me at risk, but when I’m in that moment, the only thing was ‘OK how can I contribute, how can I play?’