Captain Alex Pearce says the players can’t wait to face West Coast on Saturday and channel ‘fierce’ pre-season energy into tough opposition.

Fremantle will play West Coast in a sell-out match simulation at Lathlain, with bounce down at 4.45pm.

“We are absolutely sick of playing against each other,” Pearce said.

“We’re excited. There’s so much work that’s been done – months of training, preparing and getting our footy to a level where we think we can really compete and perform.

“To have our backline core do some work together and actually playing in the team where I’m cheering for Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss – rather than trying to stop and bash them up at training will be nice.

“Saturday will be a good opportunity to see how we’re going.”

Key forward Josh Treacy echoed the thoughts of his captain, days after a fiery intraclub match at Victor George Kailis Oval, Cockburn last Friday.

“Im a bit sick of playing on the captain so it will be good to get out there and wrestle someone else this week,” Treacy said speaking at the Club’s 2024 Season Launch at Crown.

Pearce confirmed he will play against the West Coast Eagles after experiencing discomfort in his knee at training yesterday.

“I had a little niggle yesterday, but I had it checked out and got some good news so the plan is to play Saturday.

“I’ve felt really good (during pre-season). I was able to get over some niggles from last season.

“The last couple of months I have felt really fit and strong and it is a great position to be in. I feel like I’m in a really good space personally to tackle the season.”

Going into his second year as captain, Pearce says the players are driven to improve after an intense pre-season.

“The intraclubs and match sims over the last couple of weeks have been as intense, fierce and competitive as what I’ve been part of, so that’s really exciting,” he said.

“I look at what we’ve done over the last few months, the individuals that I’ve seen improve and the hunger the group has, and I think this gives us a chance to be able to deliver and play some really good footy.

“It doesn’t guarantee anything, but there’s certainly an element of confidence that we can take a step forward.”