Lachie Schultz and Brett Bewley are in the frame for selection for Fremantle’s opening round clash against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium on Sunday, according to senior coach Ross Lyon.

The pair arrived at Fremantle as mature age selections from Williamstown in the VFL with picks no.57 and 59 respectively.

Bewley played in both of Fremantle’s JLT Community Series clashes, including an impressive 13 disposals from just 39 per cent game time against Collingwood.

“Potentially (Fremantle could name a debutant), there’s a little bit to work through,” Lyon said.

“We are a young list, there are real opportunities. Bewley has been playing, Schultz has been good in the twos (for Peel) so we’ll just look at that mix.

“They’re both from Williamstown. They’re great characters. They’re hard workers and tough. Bewley is a long running wingman and Schultz is a 181cm strong mark, really tough small forward. It would be exciting if one of them would get the nod.”

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Lyon said that both Fremantle and North Melbourne come into the game with selection challenges, with Lyon hopeful that key forward Matt Taberner will pass a fitness test and earn selection.

“Taberner is coming in with a late run. He’s hitting his KPIs, we should see him out in the track today and that would be really exciting if he could get up,” Lyon said.

“North Melbourne have some challenges with their outs as well.”

Lyon added that Fremantle’s goal was to avoid the final quarter fadeouts they experienced in the JLT.

“We want to be strong in the contest, we want to penetrate with the ball and be aggressive in defence,” Lyon said.

“We played the premier and grand finalist in the JLT and our first halves to three quarters were fantastic against them, so we’re looking to play that type of football for four quarters.

“We’ve got to test how long we can keep going and as a young group, we’re going to have some challenges.

“We can’t wait to see Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra with the experience of Reece Conca and Travis Colyer. We feel that we’ve got one of the best players in the competition in Nat Fyfe. There’s a lot of excitement here.”

Lyon said he’s excited for the start of the season, which will be Fremantle’s 25th in the AFL.

“I expect Optus stadium will be rocking,” Lyon said. 

“It’s 25 years, we’ve got our 25-year jumper out there, there’s a lot going right here and I couldn’t be more thrilled for the group of young men that work hard and are determined to grow over a period of time.”