Michael Walters is excited to be celebrating his 150th milestone at Optus Stadium on Saturday night against Essendon, but to the star forward/midfielder, the night is all about honouring Freo legend Aaron Sandilands.
The Fremantle leader called on his teammates to give an effort fitting to honour Sandilands’ contribution to the club over his 18 years at Freo.
“He has been massive, not only in stature but as a player as well,” Walters said.
“For someone to come off a rookie list and do what he has done is a credit to him.
“We know the Bombers are going to come over and play their brand of footy because it is going to be a tough week.
“We need to send someone off like that with great effort. We cannot go out there and play silly footy, we need to go out there and play our brand.
“For us, we are just there to focus on footy. We cannot be dictated by Essendon.”
While Walters said that he would love to help chair Sandilands off after the game, he said he wouldn’t be volunteering to put himself under the ruckman’s 119kg frame.
“He would probably be taller if he walked off,” he joked.
“There is no chance I will be lifting him, he is too big.
“There is not many, Alex Pearce isn’t playing and we do not have Pav (Matthew Pavlich) anymore.
“I guess he is going to have to walk off by himself.”
