Fremantle have brought five players into their extended squad for Sunday’s clash against St Kilda at Blundstone Arena.
Midfielder Andrew Brayshaw makes his return from suspension and he is joined by Blake Acres, Joel Western and Ethan Hughes in the squad.
Forward / midfielder Brett Bewley is also technically an inclusion, playing a half of football in the RAC Derby after coming on as the medical sub for Connor Blakely.
Blakely (hamstring) is the only omission at this stage.
Brayshaw’s return will boost the midfield, averaging 33 disposals per game since Nat Fyfe’s season was ended with a shoulder injury.
In Brayshaw’s absence in the RAC Derby, Justin Longmuir used the likes of Sam Switkowski and Darcy Tucker in the midfield and the senior coach didn’t rule out continuing to experiment in that area.
“Andy's proven that he's one of our better performing mids, so he'll get his opportunity in there,” Longmuir said.
“I would still like to try a few things. I thought ‘Switta’ was a good centre bounce player, he ups our pressure around centre bounce and ups our hunt on the ground ball. We'll keep trying to add a bit of depth through (the midfield).”
The game will be a crucial one for Fremantle with David Mundy playing a Club record 354th AFL game and Freo needing to win to have a chance of playing finals.
As well as beating the Saints, Freo need two losses from the other three teams vying for finals – GWS (against Carlton), Essendon (against Collingwood) and West Coast (against Brisbane).
It will be Fremantle’s first game at the Hobart ground and St Kilda’s fourth, with the Saints chasing their first win at the venue.
Bounce down for the clash is at 12.15pm EST (10.15am WST) and will be broadcast live into Perth on Channel 7 and Fox Footy and can be streamed on Kayo.
TABTouch Squad v St Kilda
IN: Blake Acres, Andrew Brayshaw, Brett Bewley, Ethan Hughes, Joel Western
OUT: Connor Blakely
B: Brandon Walker, Griffin Logue, Luke Ryan
HB: Hayden Young, Alex Pearce, James Aish
C: Darcy Tucker, David Mundy, Andrew Brayshaw
HF: Sam Switkowski, Matt Taberner, Travis Colyer
F: Lachie Schultz, Josh Treacy, Mitch Crowden
R/Fol: Sean Darcy, Caleb Serong, Adam Cerra
INTERCHANGE FROM: Liam Henry, Bailey Banfield, Lloyd Meek, Tobe Watson, Brett Bewley, Blake Acres, Ethan Hughes, Joel Western
'As good as anyone in the comp' - Can 36-year-old Mundy make All Australian?
Mundy explains 'too slow' moment
Switkowski's midfield shakeup
Let's fill The Fed with purple!
