Stephen Hill has given himself the green light for this week’s Western Derby after getting through his return from injury against Hawthorn on Sunday at Optus Stadium.
The talented midfielder has been in and out of the Fremantle lineup this season with a quad issue, playing 12 games from the opening 19 rounds.
Hill moved freely as he collected 18 disposals with 504 metres gained against Hawthorn, while taking three marks with six rebound 50s.
“I got through the game fine. I feel pretty good now post-game,” Hill said.
“Hopefully, I can stay out there and have no issues with injuries and just keep improving and we can keep improving as a group and play some good footy over the next four weeks.”
Hill said Fremantle constantly found themselves on the back foot against Hawthorn, with the Hawks winning the centre square clearances 16-7.
According to Hill, this will be the focus this week when preparing for Sunday’s ‘away’ clash with West Coast.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge, especially as the Eagles are in the top two on the ladder,” Hill said.
“The derby is always a big game and a tough challenge so we need to make sure we come and bring our game on.
“We have to work on our centre square bounce, a bit of our ball movement and forward structure.
“We want to keep improving that and finish off the season strong.
“We’ve got to keep building, especially some of the young players. Keep developing them and they’ll just keep growing and, hopefully, we’ll be fine for the rest of the year.”
