Fremantle hit the track on Friday morning for their main training session, engaging in several drills around contested work and ball movement, starting with an out-numbered match-sim. 

It was a chance for Fremantle’s abundance of young midfielders and potential wingers to put their best feet forward, with a number of different names rolling through stoppage drills in a 12 v 18 battle.

Regular names like Andy Brayshaw and Hayden Young got to work with some of the young guns who will be looking to increase their midfield minutes in 2024, linking up with the outside runners off half-back.

As the pre-season goes on, some of Freo's more experienced members are starting to use the match-sim and contest drills to apply extra pressure and give tips on the physical side of the game to the recruits.

Here are our three biggest takeaways from Fremantle’s Friday morning training session:

1. Wagner and Young get busy in match-sim

Friday’s session kicked off with an outnumbered match-sim drill, starting in the midfield or off half-back and moving forward from there.

The starting midfield pitted a mix of young guns and new faces against each other as Young, Caleb Serong, Matthew Johnson and Liam Reidy took on Neil Erasmus, Will Brodie, Heath Chapman and Max Knobel, albeit with the six mids swapping teams regularly. 

It was Young who stamped the biggest impression out of the mids early on, setting up the first two shots on goal. After popping up in a hole at the top of the fifty during the first passage, Young turned to find Jye Amiss leading into the pocket and hit him with the left before he goaled.

Serong then squared the next passage to Young in the middle again, this time using his non-preferred right to find Michael Walters open inside the arc. 

Outside of the midfield, Corey Wagner was the other standout throughout the drill. 

The running half-back's influence through his ball movement was noticeable, hitting multiple contests at pace and breaking lines through handball chains. 

His most influential moment came by foot, however, as Wagner faked a handball through the middle before switching the play across the field to a running Nathan O’Driscoll, who hit up Amiss for another goal. 

Young and Wagner were impressive with their composure and effect on the play, continuing on from their strong finish to the 2023 season.

2. Midfield core working close together

The remainder of Fremantle’s midfield core were operating in close quarters throughout the session with several ball movement and contest set-up drills. 

Following the match-sim, the squad broke up into smaller groups with a short and sharp tackling drill. Experienced midfield leaders Brayshaw and Young joined Erasmus, Brodie, Johnson and train-on player Max Beattie. 

After a couple of scrimmages and loose ball pick-ups, Brayshaw brought the group in for a strategic and passionate chat before moving on to the next drill. 

24-year-old Brayshaw, who was elevated to the leadership group ahead of the 2021 season and made vice-captain in 2023, appeared to be showing the group some quick directions and pointers around the contest. 

The group moved into close-quarters handballing before changing into a ball transition drill, where Young worked with Serong, O’Driscoll and Jordan Clark before Nat Fyfe, who was absent from the match-sim, joined the group. 

In a sign of the abundance of options Fremantle have to run through the midfield and on the wing in 2024, the group showed a willingness to move the ball to the outside and use their runners after winning it at the contest. 

The drill was capped off with a late passage as Clark won the ball and found Fyfe, who cut through a couple of tackles with a burst of speed, passing off to Serong who then passed off again to O’Driscoll for a classy running goal. 

3. Veterans lend the rookies a hand

Several new faces were offered some helpful advice from some of the Club’s more experienced names at Friday’s training. 

Small forward Jack Delean, who was taken at Pick 60 in last month’s AFL Draft, matched up with Michael Walters in the early match-sim drill. 

Delean tried to out-body Walters in a jostle for an early aerial contest, but Walters held out strongest and saw the ball to ground, resulting in a goal opportunity for his side. 

As the pair swapped bibs after the next goal, Walters was quick to have a chat with Delean about working on his craft. 

A veteran of 15 AFL seasons, Walters was signalling plenty of gestures in the young draftee’s direction, which appeared to focus on his bodywork in the aerial contest as well as the timing of his contact. 

Delean has impressed across his first couple of weeks in the purple, finding plenty of footy in transition and showing a solid skill set. 

Ollie Murphy was also given the chance to work with a Fremantle legend, but was met with the full force of Nat Fyfe when grouped into the tackling drill together. 

Murphy, a tall key-defender, showed strength in the contest to hold onto the footy against Fyfe as well as 163-gamer James Aish and Chapman. 

Showing his ability to win the ball and halve the contest in the match-sim, Murphy showcased some of his defensive toughness to lock the ball in among some of the side’s most experienced players under pressure. 

Both Delean and Murphy were prominent features throughout the session and completed the full match-sim drill, along with Cooper Simpson, who linked up with Delean for a neat passage of play along the wing in the match-sim to start their sessions.