Fremantle captain Alex Pearce will make his return to the side for his first official AFL game since Round 19 of 2024, and after missing both of Fremantle’s pre-season matches.
Pearce missed a portion of 2024 due to a fractured arm and after overcoming an ankle injury in the pre-season, the skipper is ready to return.
Freo’s defence will be further bolstered by the return of Josh Draper who has recovered from a minor hamstring strain sustained in an intra-club match last month.
Pearce and Draper join Brennan Cox, Luke Ryan, Brandon Walker and Jordan Clark as Fremantle’s starting back six.
Star recruit Shai Bolton will miss his first opportunity to make a Club debut as he battles a stress injury in his lower leg, with senior coach Justin Longmuir reaffirming in his media conference yesterday that the Club were not going to take any risks with the dynamic small forward.
“Like we’ve always said, we won’t take any risks with him, but it’s on the minor end of the injury,” Longmuir said.
“He’s got a low-end stress response in his leg, so it probably sounds worse than it actually is. If he doesn’t get up this week, we’re pretty confident he’ll be alright next week.”
Veteran Michael Walters will also miss the Round 1 clash as he recovers from a contact injury to his knee sustained in Fremantle’s pre-season match with Melbourne.
In exciting news, 18-year-old midfielder Murphy Reid will be making his AFL debut on the weekend, starting on the field at half forward.
Reid was Fremantle’s first selection in the 2024 National Draft, taken with pick No. 17 and has impressed through Freo’s pre-season with his maturity and skill set, earning the praise of senior coach Justin Longmuir.
“You’ve grown all pre-season mate,” Longmuir said when announcing Reid’s debut in front of the playing group.
“I think in the pre-season games your strengths have really come to the fore. You understand what you need to work on, you’ve really gone to school on that.
“I’ve loved seeing your development so far mate, you’ve really earned your opportunity so excited to see what you can do.”
Coming off the back of a difficult 2024 season where he was struck down by injury, Nathan O’Driscoll will line up on the wing following his impressive pre-season form which saw him boot two goals, collect 17 touches and eight marks.
He will line up alongside Liam Reidy, who will play his third AFL game, Jeremy Sharp, Jaeger O’Meara, Caleb Serong and Andy Brayshaw in Fremantle’s starting midfield.
Bailey Banfield, Matthew Johnson, Karl Worner, Heath Chapman and Corey Wagner make up the Club’s five-man bench, with one of them to be named the substitute an hour before bouncedown on Saturday.
Patrick Voss, Cooper Simpson and Neil Erasmus have been named as emergencies for the clash.
Bounce down for Saturday’s clash is at 1.20pm AEDT and will be broadcast live on Fox Footy as well as streamed on Kayo.
Fremantle fans looking for somewhere to watch the game in Perth can head to Pirate Life’s ‘Anchor Venues’ which will be offering an enhanced away game experience all season long.
