Fremantle have made three changes for Saturday night’s clash with Essendon at Optus Stadium.
Sean Darcy and Michael Frederick return from injury, as confirmed earlier on Thursday by Senior Coach Justin Longmuir.
Opposition: Parish returns, Draper out
The sub against GWS, Neil Erasmus also comes into the 22. The midfielder impressed against the Giants with 10 disposals playing just over a quarter of football.
They replace three omissions in Nathan O’Driscoll, Bailey Banfield and Sam Sturt.
O’Driscoll and Sturt have been named as emergencies alongside Josh Corbett and Karl Worner, with one of those four to be confirmed as the substitute an hour before bouncedown.
Longmuir said the return of Darcy from a hamstring injury would be particularly crucial for the Essendon clash.
“It allows ‘Jacko’ (Luke Jackson) to play the role he was playing before Sean got injured,” Longmuir said.
“Sean was in really good form all year pretty much up until he got injured.
“Hopefully he can come back into the team and take off where he left and give us an advantage, that’s the aim.”
The game will be Frederick’s 50th in the AFL. The forward was set to play against GWS before he was a late omission due to an ankle injury.
Bouncedown for the clash is at 5.25pm WST and the game will be broadcast live into WA on 7mate and Fox Footy, and can be streamed on Kayo.
TEAM v ESSENDON
IN: Sean Darcy, Michael Frederick, Neil Erasmus
OUT: Nathan O’Driscoll, Bailey Banfield, Sam Sturt
B: Brennan Cox, Alex Pearce, Hayden Young
HB: Brandon Walker, Luke Ryan, Jordan Clark
C: Liam Henry, Caleb Serong, Michael Frederick
HF: Josh Treacy, Luke Jackson, Michael Walters
F: Sam Switkowski, Jye Amiss, Lachie Schultz
R/Fol: Sean Darcy, Andrew Brayshaw, Nat Fyfe
I: Neil Erasmus, Matthew Johnson, Jaeger O’Meara, Ethan Hughes
E: Sam Sturt, Josh Corbett, Nathan O’Driscoll, Karl Worner
Duo to return, mid remains on sidelines
Gallery: Main training 21 June
A sign of Young's future?
