Vice captain Andrew Brayshaw was thrilled with Fremantle’s efforts in a 41-point RAC Derby win, but acknowledged there are plenty of areas to get better, particularly in the midfield.
After getting on the board with their first win of the season, Fremantle are turning their sights to a two-game road-trip to South Australia, playing Adelaide in round four and Gold Coast in Gather Round.
The dominance of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson in the ruck has seen Freo dominate the league’s hitout stats in the opening three rounds of the season.
Freo rank first for hitouts with 53 per game, eight more than the second ranked team in Richmond. They also average two more hitouts to advantage per game than the second-ranked Gold Coast.
But the ruck dominance is not translating into results for the midfield, ranking 15th for clearances with 32.7 per game, well behind league leaders Brisbane with 44 per game.
Brayshaw said midfield performance would improve with more physicality from the engine room.
“It’s a long year and every week we’re trying to improve and already we’ve taken some small steps forward,” Brayshaw said.
“We want our best footy to be based around the contest and team defence and let our ball movement flow on from that.
“We have to continue to be really strong with our body work, double down on our contest.
“Sean is putting it in really good areas, and we have to work together as a midfield unit and get ourselves first hands on the ball.”
Brayshaw has been encouraged by the efforts from James Aish, Sam Switkowski and Jackson in the midfield, as they supported the midfield core of himself, Caleb Serong and Jaeger O’Meara against West Coast.
“(In round one against St Kilda) we didn’t have that many guys run through there, so we’ve been trying to mix it up,” Brayshaw said.
“The roles are very much the same but just different personnel and giving the opposition something different to think about.
“For us, it’s not that different, we’ve still got our roles that we’ve been practicing all year and hopefully it gives the opposition a tougher look.”
Jackson, who kicked two goals against the Eagles, would continue as a primary forward despite impressing in other roles.
“I think his best position is forward,” Brayshaw said.
“He’s also got that ability to help Sean in the ruck, also help us out in the midfield.
“We’re very lucky that we’ve got someone who can play those different roles.
“To see him hit the scoreboard a couple of times on the weekend was really impressive.
“He impressed all pre-season…he’s a really good player and he’s going to continue to improve throughout the year.”
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