- Brayshaw's competitive edge
- Neale expects a 'great battle' with Port
- WAFL Watch: Young mids shine against Subi
Lachie Neale will be taking a club-first attitude into the 2018 season, knowing that a strong individual year isn’t all that is necessary for Fremantle to be competitive.
Freo have brought in 22 new players in the past two off-seasons, including 12 ahead of this season, with Neale placing a priority on their development.
Neale highlighted Andrew Brayshaw, who is a potential round one debutant against Port Adelaide on Saturday, and trio Adam Cerra, Mitch Crowden and Tom North, who impressed for Peel in a pre-season clash with Subiaco last Saturday.
SEASON 2018 IS HERE! GET ON BOARD NOW
“I think for me it’s about helping (first-year players) like Andy, Adam Cerra, even Mitch Crowden and Tom North, all these young midfielders we’ve brought in,” said Neale of his goals for 2018.
“I want to show them the right way to play, teaching them a few things about the midfield and bring them on as fast as I can and as a club, because the faster we do that the better we’ll be.
“For me personally, I just want to have a really consistent year, help build this team up and, hopefully, contend over the next few years.”
Neale says he isn't placing any significance in pre-season predictions that leave Fremantle out of finals contention.
“I know personally when I see that sort of stuff, it makes we want to go out there and win,” Neale said.
“We know internally that we’re building, we have a mantra that 'anything’s possible' at the moment and you’ve seen that over the past couple of years with the Bulldogs and Richmond.
“So anything’s possible and we look forward to improving over this year and winning as many games as we can.”