Executive General Manager of Football Peter Bell is confident Fremantle can cover the loss of Liam Henry on the wing in 2024 after the 22-year-old requested a trade.

As well as existing wingers including James Aish and Nathan O’Driscoll, Fremantle added to their depth in the position when signing Ethan Stanley to an 18-month contract in May’s mid-season draft

Freo also tried Ethan Hughes on the wing earlier in the year, while fellow defenders Heath Chapman and Hayden Young are believed to have potential in the role.

Michael Frederick also impressed in the role against Hawthorn where he had 19 disposals and five marks.

Bell said it was disappointing to see Henry depart after his breakout second half of the season.

“Liam’s been at the club for a long time, starting with our Next Generation Academy,” Bell told TAB Radio.

“Our coaches and other staff have worked really hard to help develop him into the consistent AFL footballer that we saw in the second half of 2023. For those people and others, it is disappointing that he's decided then to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

“From a depth perspective, we feel that we've got good depth coverage on the wings with players like Aish, O'Driscoll, Young, Ethan Stanley, Ethan Hughes. There are others.

“There's some interest from our coaches in exploring Heath Chapman on the wing next year as well. I think we'll be fine there, but it is disappointing.”

Bell said a list turnover ahead of the season likely hurt the team’s chances in 2023, but would also have long term benefits.

Fremantle turned over 25 per cent of the list going into the year and Bell highlighted the significant change in Freo’s tall forward line-up through both trade and injury to Matt Taberner.

“The (list turnover) itself meant that perhaps at the start of the season we were a little disjointed as we replaced some of those players,” Bell said.

“An example ended up being an area of growth…in 2022 Taberner, (Rory) Lobb and (Griffin) Logue were our key forwards for great portions of the season.

“This year, obviously, we had we had (Luke) Jackson, (Jye) Amiss, (Josh) Treacy after Taberner got injured. That took a while to adjust as everyone would understand.

“As the season went on, the connection grew and I think everyone can see and be excited about what that group can produce moving forward.”

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