Matt de Boer will miss the next four to six weeks after injuring his knee while training at Fremantle Oval on Wednesday. De Boer damaged the medial ligament in his left knee and will wear a brace on it in the interim. He has not missed a game since round 23, 2012.
Coming off the bye
There has been a lot of talk about whether coming off the bye is an advantage or a disadvantage. It seems there is no concrete evidence to suggest it’s one or the other. Geelong has been one of the best sides of the past seven years, but it has won just one of five post-bye matches. Hawthorn, the other team with claims to be the best of recent times, has won four of five. Fremantle sits in the middle, having succeeded in two of four post-bye games. This week’s game against the Western Bulldogs will send the ledger into either the positive or the negative.
Ross Lyon media conference
Dawson’s 50th
Zac Dawson chalks up his 50th game for Fremantle on Sunday. He has been integral to the club’s status as the best defensive team in the AFL since Ross Lyon arrived. Dawson is close to playing the most games in his career at Freo, with 63 at St Kilda and 14 at Hawthorn.
Zac Dawson: The bravest thing I’ve ever done
Danyle Pearce hits 50 straight
Pearce plays his 50th straight game on Sunday, and it’s fitting that he does it in Indigenous Round. He has played 34 of those at Fremantle and is one of only four players to play every game since the start of 2013 up to round 9, 2014. The other three are Ryan Crowley, Tendai Mzungu and Matt de Boer.
Indigenous Round
Fremantle has the most Indigenous players on its list in the AFL this season with eight. Of those, Michael Johnson, Danyle Pearce and Stephen Hill should line up on Sunday against the Bulldogs and wear the club’s Indigenous Round jumper with pride. The other Indigenous players at the club are Michael Walters, Jon Griffin, Brady Grey, Alex Pearce and Josh Simpson. Since the club’s inception in 1994, 32 Indigenous players have been drafted to Freo, with 26 of those recruits going on to play at the elite level.
Football leading the way in reconciliation
