Lyon said there were two main components Fremantle will focus on during the upcoming pre-season, which gets underway for first to fourth year players on 17 November.
“It’s a really important period to build your base fitness levels and your game style,” he said.
Lyon defined base fitness as vital conditioning to help players endure the 22-game AFL home and away season and possibly finals.
“Once you get into the rigour of playing games, the players get very sore and it’s very difficult to increase your fitness levels,” he said.
“If you do get hurt in-season, the work you’ve done pre-season, your fitness base, allows you to miss a few weeks and then pick it up really quickly.”
Lyon said the team would also have its game plan and strategies in place well before the first home and away game against Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium on Sunday 5 April.
“Because of lack of time on the track in-season, it’s very hard to shift your strategies and the way you play,” he said.
“So the foundation of how you’re going to play throughout the year is built in the ensuing five months from when you get back (from off-season).”
Freo’s players will be at the club five days a week for most of the pre-season.
“It’s a very intense period, physically and mentally draining for the players, but it’s also a good period, you haven’t got the win-loss spectre hanging over your head and everyone’s enthusiastic and vibrant,” Lyon said.
After Freo’s Semi-Final defeat to the Power, Lyon said the club would aim to get more creative in its football program. He said the players could expect a “slightly different” pre-season schedule.
“We’re not at our absolute limit, but we’re stretching what we can do in the (lecture) theatre and in walkthroughs and conversation and on Apple Macs,” Lyon said.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to massage in more time on the paddock.
“We’ll build in an extra half an hour per session where the groups can go into their areas and work on forward line, midfield stoppages and defences, the specific skills to the position.
“Everyone will be progressing at the same rate and then come together where we’ll be playing full football.”
The club also planned a few adjustments to the in-season program, which will include extra goal kicking practice.
“We’ve determined that we’ll be able to do more goal kicking, even on their recovery days, even if it might be from 15m,” Lyon said.
Fremantle members and supporters can rest assured that the club is doing everything it can to maximise its chances of success in 2015.
