Fremantle’s 97-point practice match win against West Coast on Friday at Lathlain Park did little to narrow down a starting 22 for Justin Longmuir, with the Senior Coach expecting up to five first-team players to return for next week’s AAMI Community Series clash, also against the Eagles.

Freo named 26 players for the hitout, with David Mundy a late scratching, however Longmuir said Mundy would return alongside the likes of Sean Darcy, Luke Ryan, Michael Walters and possibly Nat Fyfe.

It’s an elite group to fit into any team, with Darcy the only one of the five not to have all All Australian honours to his name and Walters the only non-Doig Medal winner.

“We had a fair few players out today, I think we’ll get up to five players back next week,” Longmuir said.

“I’ve been saying it for a while, but there’s a good competition for spots at the moment and there’s going to be some guys playing at Peel tomorrow that could’ve easily played today. It’s a good position to be in.

“There was nothing in (Mundy’s late omission), he’ll play next week. We think Darcy, Ryan, Mundy, Walters, and Fyfe should play some footy next week.”

Longmuir said it was depth that kept talented young midfielder Neil Erasmus out of Fremantle’s line-up.

‘He was close, but we’ve got some good depth through our midfield and he’s a young player in his first year who hasn’t played against men really apart from this pre-season,” Longmuir said.

“I thought it was best for his development and his progression to play (a pre-season game) at Peel tomorrow.”

Longmuir said second-year key forward Josh Treacy was still building his fitness while key defender Joel Hamling had more work to do on the track after missing the 2021 season due to an ankle injury.

“Josh only returned to match-sim last week, so he’s only got a half under his belt. He’ll continue his progression at Peel tomorrow, we’ll try and get him three quarters, we’ll try and get him a bit more,” Longmuir said.

“Joel, he’s competing for a spot in our side at the moment, he’s a little bit behind our other key backs. I think that’s understandable, and we all understand that Joel has missed a couple years of footy and is still returning from that ankle injury.

“He’ll go back and keep working on his footy and keep putting pressure on the others in the side.”

The AAMI Community Series game is on Sunday 6 March at Fremantle Oval with bouncedown at 4.10pm WST.

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