Tom Rockliff is expected to join his senior teammates over in Perth for their Round 12 clash against fourth-placed Fremantle.

Rockliff watched last Friday night’s loss against Collingwood from the stands, after being ruled out with a quad complaint.

But his diligent rehab and a conveniently scheduled Bye, means that he is likely to miss just the one game.

“Rocky had a little nick in his quad last week, so he missed the Collingwood game,” Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Hass told LIONS TV as part of the regular Bupa Recovery Report.

“He’s rehabbing really well and having the Bye really helps. He’ll be back for Fremantle.”

After playing the previous 34 matches in succession, Rockliff told The Courier Mail on Monday that he didn’t enjoy being a spectator last Friday night.

“I was pulling my hair out. It's frustrating when you can't do anything to help out the boys,” Rockliff said.

“You'd love to be out there so watching the game is one of the hardest things you can do.”

In other good injury news for Lions fans, Hass also revealed that gun midfielder Daniel Rich was closing in on his senior return.

Rich hasn’t played a senior match since suffering a broken scapula (shoulder blade) at training on the eve of the Lions’ Round 5 match against Melbourne.

He has since missed six matches, and could be an outside chance to play against Fremantle in a couple of weeks.

“Dan is probably ahead of schedule,” Hass said.

“He’s starting to get busy in the gym and participate in a lot more skills in rehab.”

Ruckman Matthew Leuenberger, meanwhile, is still a ‘week-to-week’ proposition.

“Leuey we’re taking week by week. He has another meeting with the hand specialist today just to check his thumb and see how well that’s healing,” Hass said.

“We’ll have more information on that as it comes to hand.”

A minor injury cloud hangs over Brent Moloney, who was limited on Friday night against Collingwood after suffering a knock to his ribs.

“Beamer (Brent Moloney) was subbed out early in the third quarter,” Hass said.

“He just had a contact injury to his ribs, so we’ll scan assess that to see his availability in the coming weeks.”