Fremantle defender Luke McPharlin says he is 'touch and go' to be fit for final against Geelong

DYNAMIC Fremantle defender Luke McPharlin says he's still "touch and go" to play against Geelong in Saturday's qualifying final.

DYNAMIC Fremantle defender Luke McPharlin has revealed that he is still "touch and go" to be fit to play in Saturday's potentially spiteful qualifying final clash with Geelong at Simonds Stadium.

The veteran backman declared he has two more training sessions to survive before he can be passed fit to resume after a two-month lay-off with a serious calf injury.

“It’s going to be touch and go,” McPharlin confessed on a weekly radio spot with 96FM in Perth this morning.

“Provided I tick off some very important milestones in speed and agility, I will hopefully be able to play.”

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McPharlin, 31, was restricted to light duties yesterday after suffering soreness after-effects from a heavy training regime last week, when Fremantle left up to a dozen of its expected starting team against the Cats out of the last qualifying home-and-away match of the season.

“I was a bit stiff and sore yesterday on the back of some pretty heavy work I did last weekend,” he said.

“They are just giving me a 24-hour window to try again today and tomorrow and tick off a bit of work.”

McPharlin is expected to eventually be passed fit despite his reluctance to fully commit to being fit to play in probably the biggest engagement in Fremantle’s 19-year AFL history.

McPharlin is tipped to prove his fitness and be handed the defensive assignment on Cats power forward Tom Hawkins, who is nursing injury problems of his own with a nagging back complaint.

“There’s no issue. Everything is moving along as it should,” McPharlin said.

Dockers hard nut Ryan Crowley declared the Simonds Stadium crowd as the most parochial in the AFL.

“It is a different beast compared to all the rest of the (AFL) grounds,” Crowley said.

“They are very, very one-sided parochial fans down there and it is a bit of a boutique stadium.

“But it is probably the one ground that has similar dimensions to (Fremantle's home) Subiaco, so that is a positive.”

Crowley declared the Cats, who have won three of the last six titles, as the best team of the modern era.

“Footy doesn’t give up its rewards very easily, so what better challenge to go over against probably the best team of my generation and try and beat them,” he said.

Crowley is headed for a fierce one-on-battle with Geelong champion on-baller and captain Joel Selwood.