New recruit James Aish is hopeful he can impress in a return to the wing when he runs out for Fremantle in 2020.

The former Collingwood player has spent his most recent seasons playing as a defender under the watchful eye of then defensive coach Justin Longmuir, who is now the senior coach at Fremantle. 

Aish said Longmuir had other plans for the 23-year-old now they’re both in purple. 

“I’ve played the past few years under Justin in the backline at Collingwood,” Aish said.

“I think (at Fremantle) I’ll be looking to play a bit more back on the wing, where I played two or three years ago. 

“On the wing, I’ll have to take the game on a bit more and I’ll have the confidence to try and make good decisions and play a selfless role for the team.” 

Longmuir the 'best coach I've had'

Aish has played in five finals in the past two seasons, including the 2018 Grand Final and the Pies’ preliminary final in 2019 against GWS. He said he’s hungry to see plenty more finals football at Fremantle.

“(Playing finals) it’s awesome. It just makes you want to experience more and get back there,” Aish said.

“The experience and the atmosphere of those games are amazing and that’s why you play footy. Hopefully, with this group we can get up there straight away.”

Due to finishing the season later than his new teammates, Aish will also have to return to pre-season training later than the bulk of the team. 

He said he was eager to get into it after a short break. 

“I hope to get away maybe in a couple of days for a week or so,” Aish said.

“I’ll try and make the move to Perth as quickly as I can so I can settle in and get into training and meet everyone as quick as I can.

"It will be good to get a good training block in before Christmas and go from there.”