Alex Pearce was clearly pleased with both the group and individual performances from Freo’s 31-point pre-season win against Port Adelaide at Fremantle Oval on Thursday.

The newly elected Fremantle captain said Fremantle ‘brushed off the cobwebs’ after last week’s match sim loss to Adelaide, and played in a manner that he hopes his teammates can build on for round one in a fortnight against St Kilda.

The key defender gave a wry smile when he said the backline ‘always performs well’ before crediting a dynamic forwardline that had five multiple goalkickers and a midfield that boasted big performances from Will Brodie (36 disposals, six tackles, nine clearances, 16 contested possessions), Andrew Brayshaw (36 possessions) and Caleb Serong (32 possessions, eight clearances, 14 contested possessions).

But it was backman turned winger Ethan Hughes that received the biggest praise from Pearce.

“The last couple of weeks he’s been one of our best players,” Pearce said.

“We know what we’ll get from Hughesy, he’ll give his all, he’s going to stand up when the ball is there to be won and lay some fierce tackles.”

Hughes won Fremantle’s Players’ Award in 2020 for his selfless nature on the field, and Pearce said he’s always pleased when the 28-year-old supports the defenders.

“He played back for us last week and went back from the wing a couple times to help us with rotations today,” Pearce said.

“He’s just really versatile, reliable and someone we love playing alongside.”

Hughes has played just 14 games in the past two seasons as he struggled to embed a role in Fremantle’s deep backline, and Pearce believes Hughes may have found his way back into the 22.

“He would have been really flat last year to miss out for a few games,” Pearce said.

“It’s a credit to how hard he’s worked during the off-season. He’s come back and committed to the role on the wing and played some really good footy.”

While Brodie, Brayshaw and Serong padded the stat sheet in the midfield, Pearce was just as impressed with Jaeger O’Meara’s 22 disposals, five tackles and a goal.

“I love watching Jaeger and having him in the midfield,” Pearce said.

“I loved the way that he, Will, Andy and Caleb all worked together…they’ve had a good pre-season in the midfield and are gelling nicely with Sean (Darcy).

“Up forward Fyfe (three goals) did some really good things. I loved Sam Sturt (two goals), he kicked a nice goal and played some really good pressure. Josh Treacy (two goals) came in and had some big moments as well.

“The backline always does well! I don’t want to single too many boys out but I thought we worked really well as a unit.

“It was good to have Coxy (Brennan Cox) back playing some minutes and I thought he took a big step forward. Nathan Wilson has missed a lot of time in the pre-season and I thought he was able to stack some really good footy today as well.”

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