Fremantle leader Hayden Young has been pleased to see a handful of players come of age this year as injuries open the door for Freo’s younger players.
 
Neil Erasmus was a shining light in what was a largely disappointing round 18 loss to Collingwood, with 26 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 10 tackles and five clearances.
 
With Fremantle fielding the youngest team in round 18, Young highlighted the performances of Erasmus, winger Liam Henry and midfielder Matthew Johnson as reasons to believe in the Club’s future.
 
“You might not see it, but they've been putting a lot of work in behind the scenes and down at Peel,” Young told 96FM.
 
“Neil Erasmus has been playing a lot of really good footy and the promising thing is, we're starting to see traits that they've been taking from Peel and implementing them in AFL.
 
“Ras (Erasmus) and Liam have been really important and even Matty Johnson's having a great year, we're starting to see him develop.
 
“Those players are going be really important going forward as we move together as a young group.”

Young said fellow defender and good friend Heath Chapman wasn’t far away from his return to AFL, with Chapman hopeful of getting some minutes in for Peel this weekend against East Perth.
 
“He's had a lot of challenges this year (but) is looking really fit and really healthy,” Young said.
 
“He will be a test to play this week down at Peel. He's itching to get back out there.
 
“It's just great to see him in a good mental space and ready to play some footy.
 
“I think he's really excited about getting back in the team playing footy in general.
 
“He's missed a lot of footy this year and he's a really important player in our team.
 
“We hope to see him back out there this week and hopefully he's flying and knocking on the door at selection.” 

After missing the Collingwood clash with a minor ankle injury, Young was hopeful he would return against Sydney on Saturday night at Optus Stadium.
 
“I'm feeling refreshed after a week off and hopefully ready to go,” Young said.

“I was hoping to get up for that Collingwood game, but the scans revealed there was a bit too much risk involved, so I had to take the week off.
 
“I'll train (on Wednesday), hopefully pass all the tests required and be good to go this week.
 
“It was it was tough to watch last week and I'm itching to get back out there.”

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