Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir described the logjam for small ahead roles as “really tight” as spherical one attracts nearer.
The coach mentioned the first-half of Saturday’s snug pre-season win over West Coast at Mineral Resources Park was near the beginning line up, when Tom Emmett impressed, alongside Michael Walters, Michael Frederick and Sam Switkowski.
“Sam Sturt, Bailey Banfield, Cooper Simpson has had a really good pre-season. Tom has been really good the last couple of weeks,” he mentioned.
“The first half was a sign of where the coaches see things sitting at the moment. But there is not much between them.”
Longmuir mentioned subsequent Friday’s remaining observe match towards Port Adelaide will give him a a lot clearer concept.
“We will use next week as a proper hitout towards round one. There were a lot of guys managed today, whether it was half-time or three-quarter time. Next week we will set them up to get a full game together,” Longmuir mentioned.
Midfielder Nat Fyfe took one other huge step in direction of a return to a everlasting inside midfield function, with a powerful half earlier than he was subbed out for precautionary measures, together with defender Alex Pearce and ahead Sam Switkowski.
Veteran small ahead Michael Walters was full of life early with two targets and subbed out after copping a knock on the knee, whereas Jeremy Sharp was a late withdrawal with sickness and the Dockers had been hopeful he’ll return for subsequent weekend.
Amiss additionally left the sector at three quarter time and appeared sore, however Longmuir mentioned the important thing ahead was “OK”.
“His positioning, work rate and contest work was good. Maybe some of his first gives he would like back, but …. He is pretty happy and we are pretty happy with the way he is tracking,” Longmuir mentioned,
“There are a couple of areas of his game he is still a little bit rusty in but we are making sure he gets through the workload and he ticked those boxes today.”
Longmuir mentioned Fyfe made teammates “walk a little bit taller when he is in that mode”.
“We saw that at times today. Contests around the ground where he was able to be really clean and feed the outside,” Longmuir mentioned.
“I think Fyfey has added some layers to his own game that complements his own game and complements the way we play. I don’t think he is solely reliant on the contest as much as he used to be.
“He can’t be the crash and bash player he used to be.
”We have guys who may help him in that space. We must make it possible for we unfold the load.”
A mixed seven targets from Jye Amiss (three), Josh Treacy and Luke Jackson (two every) was one of many main takeaways for Fremantle within the scratch match.
Longmuir mentioned it was a mirrored image of the work additional upfield.
“I think some guys will be happy with their form across the whole field. The forwards are a by-product of what happens up the ground,” he mentioned.
“I thought maybe earlier with our stoppage, maybe we mucked around with it a little bit more and could have got it into our forwards a little bit quicker.
“But I thought our midfield balance looked pretty solid and our backs were up at times in some pretty vulnerable situations.
“In terms of stepping stones to round one, we have a fair few guys who are heading in the right direction.”
He mentioned the forwards “took a step forward”.
The Dockers have centered on a greater ahead entry this season to get extra “bang for buck”.
A 14.14 scoreline over 4 quarters exhibits that they had loads of alternatives.
“I don’t know whether we got bang for buck. There were certainly periods of the game where we should have maximised a bit more, but it is still a work in progress,” Longmuir mentioned.
“Some of the execution from both teams was a sign of early season pressure, physical pressure and perceived pressure.
“It probably creeps up early in the season and it takes a while for the players to get used to the perceived pressure rather than the physical pressure.”
The Dockers coach mentioned there have been indicators of extra daring ball motion by means of the hall.
“I think that is a sign when we play our best footy,” he mentioned.
“We have worked really hard over the pre-season on our contest method and making sure we have the right balance inside and outside.
“I thought we got that right at times today.
“We left ourselves vulnerable with some handball mistakes that allowed West Coast to get some easy looks back the other way.
“We will look at that and tidy that up, but I thought our contest method was largely pretty good and allowed us to get on the outside and get those looks through the corridor.
“That’s a good sign. If you are getting that right. The tying it off and connection will come.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
