Fremantle superstar Nat Fyfe has suffered a pre-season setback with the Dockers skipper set to undergo elbow surgery.
Fyfe has been troubled by an inflamed bursa stemming from an injury he sustained last year, which has worsened after he copped a knock in training earlier this month.
The 27-year-old, who wore a protective sleeve on his right arm while playing in Friday's AFLX tournament, isn't expected to miss Fremantle's premiership season opener and is still on track to play in the pre-season series.
"The plan is that he'll go in for a small procedure, it might require a one-night stay, but it'll be a really minor procedure," Fremantle football chief Peter Bell told 6PR on Saturday.
"He'll be back up and running in no time. I wouldn't think it would be getting into weeks (off).
"I think he would be back into full training really quickly and then we'll just manage how he comes through that. We're confident he'll be playing a major part in the pre-season games."
Bell defended the timing of the operation when questioned about why it hadn't happened before the AFLX tournament.
"We wanted to have a bit of time to think about that and see how it settled down because you don't want to send players off for surgery unless it's absolutely necessary," he said.
"You don't make a decision to send someone off for surgery flippantly, but he got a knock on it a couple of weeks ago and it did swell up."
Fyfe was coy on his pre-season plans when he spoke to reporters after the AFLX tournament, but attempted to allay fears the injury was more serious than initially thought.
"It's seriously fine," he said.
"Everyone has these sacs of fluid in their elbows and every now and then they flare up."
