Read up on some of the important numbers heading into Saturday’s big game against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.

The Ground
It’s the narrowest ground in the AFL, so one question around how Fremantle will preform relates to how they will handle the 115m wide GMHBA Stadium compared to the 130m Optus Stadium.

In terms of ball movement, Fremantle haven’t relied too heavily on using the full width of grounds by moving the ball along the boundary. Fremantle are 15^th in the AFL for ball movement along the boundary while Geelong are 14^th. Freo are more likely to move through the wider corridor (2^nd in AFL) while Geelong prefer the centre of the ground (3^rd in AFL).

Marking game
Fremantle are one of the AFL’s leaders for marks, ranking second in the stat this year with an average of 98 per game, led by Brennan Cox (8 per game). Geelong rank 14^th in the stat with an average of 86 per game.

Despite that, Geelong are dominant with marks on the lead through their key forwards Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins. The Cats lead the league with 12.2 marks on the lead per game compared to Freo’s 5.2. Individually, Cameron is second and Hawkins fourth in the AFL for marks on the lead.

Justin Longmuir said managing all of Geelong’s forwards would be a key focus for the team.

“It’s not just Cameron and Hawkins,” Longmuir told SEN on Thursday.

“They work a really good system where they create space for each other. All six of their forwards are dangerous all the time, so you can’t drop off and support.

“Cameron and Hawkins are so different. Hawkins is a really powerful player who mainly operates in the forward 50 and Cameron can get up and down the ground and run with the best of them. We’ll put plenty of time into those two, but we need to put plenty of time into the system as their work forward of centre is as good as any team in the comp.

“It’s going to be a really important part of the game that we need to get right.”

The key for Freo
Longmuir says beating Geelong is not about taking on Hawkins and Cameron one-on-one, but through the whole team defence.

It means maintaining the team’s good start to the year with their pressure and contest work.

Fremantle currently rank fourth in Champion Data’s Pressure Factor statistic, which measures the amount of pressure applied at every opportunity during a game.

Longmuir also wants Freo to force Geelong into contests. Freo currently rank third for hard ball gets, which takes into account winning a 50-50 contest against the opponent.

“We need to bring our game, we need to make sure our pressure and our contest work is up to scratch,” Longmuir said.

“It hasn’t been the last two times we’ve played Geelong but we feel this year, we’ve become a much more consistent (pressure team).

“We need to defend the ground really well, we’ve spoken a lot about it being a skinnier ground, if we can get field position we think we should be able to defend it really well.

“It’s not a one-on-one thing to defend their talls, we need to take speed out of the ball, slow them down and force them into more contests.

“I think our team defence has been shining through this year. It’s going to be a challenge on the weekend but we think we’re up to it.”

Ball movement
Longmuir says Geelong are one of the league’s best in their transition from rebound 50s to inside 50s.

The Cats have created 24 scoring opportunities from their rebound 50s this season, ranking fourth in the AFL.

Freo’s team defence has so far stood up against their opponents, conceding just nine goals from rebound 50s, the second best in the league behind Melbourne’s eight.

“They’re definitely looking to get a bit more speed in their ball movement and a bit more overlap run,” Longmuir said.

“I’ve been really impressed with the way they’re moving the ball as a team. They’re not switching the ball as much as they did last year, I think their transition speed from their rebound 50 to inside 50 has gone from something like 18^th to first.

"That’s a sign that they’re trying to get more energy at the ball and I think those big boys (Hawkins and Cameron) are capitalising and finishing off that work really well.”

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