FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon says he will persist with Hayden Ballantyne as a midfielder in Sunday's Western Derby, despite criticism of the proven goalsneak's recent form.
However, the coach is preparing to shake up Fremantle's engine room by including ruckman Jon Griffin in the team alongside star big man Aaron Sandilands.
Since returning from a two-week suspension in round four, Ballantyne has averaged fewer than 14 possessions a game and kicked just four goals, playing long minutes as a midfielder.
Lyon highlighted the 24-year-old's round one performance against Geelong, which saw him win 20 possessions and kick two goals, and described Ballantyne as "a key driver of our team".
"He'll go through the midfield and he'll play through the forward line," Lyon said on Thursday. "I'm a pretty persistent person and I'll stick with what I believe in.
"It's easy to look at peoples' failures but he was a catalyst for our round one win, and [against] the Saints in the last quarter. So he's been a catalyst at times in the midfield."
Ballantyne was held to two possessions in the first half of Fremantle's loss to Hawthorn last Saturday, but he rebounded to have a "super second half under adversity", the coach said.
"He never gave up and he turned himself around. He's one of those players that attracts attention.
"We certainly know he's got improved output in him but, as it is, he's been a considerable part of a team that finds itself 5-3.
"There's 10 others that haven't performed to that level, so we think we're in reasonable position, but everyone can improve."
Ballantyne's performance in last year's round 18 Derby was memorable for his missed set shot after the siren, which left Fremantle ruing a one-point loss.
“The last one really hurt, so a bit of redemption would be good this weekend,” Ballantyne told fremantlefc.com.au this week.
Lyon said Griffin, who has not played in the same team as Sandilands since being recruited at the end of the 2010 season, was "more likely than unlikely" to figure in Sunday's Derby.
Sandilands and Zac Clarke combined in the ruck to win the hit-outs 51-25 against Hawthorn but Fremantle lost the clearances (24-48) for the fourth time in five weeks.
Griffin played in rounds five and six when Sandilands was sidelined with a calf injury, but Lyon said this could be the week he played the two genuine ruckmen in tandem.
"You can just see the impact that two big men can have, and we're weighing up Zac Clarke, just keeping him as a permanent forward," the coach said.
"I don't think it's any secret that we're looking at it. It would just give Aaron some really good assistance we think.
"He gets a chance to push forward. It'd be nice to get it into him and he could be a threat if we supply some ball to Aaron deep in the forward line."
Defender Adam McPhee (calf) will have to prove his fitness at Friday's main training session, while Michael Walters is considered unlikely, although Lyon said he was "right on the cusp" and had been discussed this week.
The coach addressed the perception that Fremantle, which won seven consecutive Derbies between 2007 and 2010, rises to the occasion against its cross-town rival.
"I’m not au fait with that sort of principle," he said. There’s been no hint of that approach or philosophy so it’s certainly not one I espouse or would be thrilled with.
"We play a Grand Final every week. There’s 22 Grand Finals to get through. It would be an indictment as a coach myself if that’s the way we went about it, preparing for this one more than we did last week or the week before.
"I have a really simple philosophy, I know Peter Sumich and Mark Stone and Matthew Pavlich and all our leaders do. I haven’t heard that. Is that an urban myth? I hope it is."
Nathan Schmook covers Fremantle news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nathan
