Collingwood champion Nathan Buckley has shared his thoughts on Fremantle’s ongoing Nat Fyfe dilemma, suggesting the dual Brownlow Medalist should attempt to play through another injury setback with the Dockers firmly in the finals hunt.
Now 33, Fyfe returned to action in Round 12 as the sub against the Gold Coast Suns, going on to play a role in Freo’s next two games before being ruled out at half time last week with a calf strain.
The club has announced Fyfe is set to miss anywhere between two to four weeks, but after sharing his own late career battles with injury, Buckley said the superstar midfielder should persevere with the chance of a Premiership still very much on the cards.
“That’s what Nat Fyfe’s got to be hunting for and that’s what Fremantle’s got to be hunting for,” Buckley said on Wednesday's episode of Whateley, before comparing Fyfe’s situation to his own, as well as Scott West and Shane Crawford’s.
MORE: How Nat Fyfe got injured despite not playing for Fremantle
“Scott West didn’t get back in his year, so I was better than him. Shane Crawford got back in his last five games. He goes and plays his last game of AFL in his life was a Premiership, so there’s always better, and there’s always worse.
“But Nat Fyfe, don't give it up, keep going until it’s done, because you never know what’s going to come. He’s still got time, so go and use it.”
Buckley battled serious hamstring troubles in 2007, making his return midseason and eventually playing his final game in a Prelim Final loss to Geelong.
West wasn’t quite so lucky, struggling to see the field again after suffering a bone stress injury to his right knee, while Crawford remains one of the AFL’s great success stories after claiming the flag in 2008 despite a serious knee injury.