Fremantle captain Alex Pearce is progressing well in his recovery from a second arm fracture this season.

The Palawa man re-injured the troublesome radius bone in his left arm during the Dockers' 50-point win over Melbourne at Optus Stadium a fortnight ago.

It was a new fracture to the same bone he injured over a month ago in the club's win against the Gold Coast Suns.

Despite the fresh setback, Fremantle's High Performance Manager Phil Merriman was optimistic about the key defender's rehabilitation progress.

"Moose (Alex Pearce) is going well, I think he's getting the cast off today," Merriman said.

"He will begin some light mobility work – we are hoping to see him towards the end of the year."

The 29-year-old had surgery last week to put another plate in the arm and was released from hospital the following day.

Meanwhile, veteran Dockers forward Michael Walters is likely to return earlier than expected from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the team for last weekend's derby against crosstown rivals West Coast.

Dockers coach Justin Longmuir told reporters last week that Walters was likely to miss around four weeks, but Merriman said that the 33-year-old could now be just a fortnight away from a return.

"Walters is coming along well – we are looking at around two weeks as a timeline," Merriman said.

"He's doing a lot of volume, so he will be fit when he gets back."

Remarkably, Walters finished the game against Melbourne despite complaining to club physiotherapists about hamstring awareness during the match.

It was a season-best performance by the skilful forward, as he finished with four goals from 16 disposals.

Injury-prone Hawthorn forward Chad Wingard is a strong chance to return at VFL level after suffering a calf strain against Geelong in Round 15.

The Hawks' High Performance Manager Peter Burge said that the 31-year-old would likely play limited minutes in what would be his first game in a month.

"He's ready to resume training with the group and has had some good conditioning and running sessions over the past week," Burge said.

"He'll return to football training tomorrow and then later in the week and then we'll look to play on the weekend in the VFL.

"He probably won't play the full game, but we'll look to play 70 minutes or thereabouts, some managed minutes over the game."

At Collingwood, forward Nathan Kreuger continues to work through the AFL's concussion protocols and is expected to be available next week.