It’s been a season of new faces at Fremantle and senior defender Michael Johnson says the priority has been on getting the group to adapt to the game plan.
Eight players, all aged 23 and under, made their first Freo appearances in 2017 with four of these making their AFL debut in Luke Ryan, Brennan Cox, Griffin Logue and Harley Balic.
“Every year there’s always changes, so it’s about trying to adapt and learn the strengths and weaknesses of all the different players,” Johnson said.
“But the great thing about it is, you’re getting a lot of young players coming in and playing their role for the team.
“You’ve got Joel Hamling bringing experience and knowledge over and teaching other players that have only been in the system for a couple of years.
“It’s all about working together and finding weaknesses, strengths and going out there and playing together.”
Johnson could also see positives coming out of a number of established players in Freo’s younger ranks.
“It’s just great to see players like Ethan Hughes get a crack and Lachie Weller’s starting to play some really good footy,” Johnson said.
“The youth for the club is really good and being an older player it’s great to see that.”
