Senior coach Ross Lyon joked that he was full of surprises at his weekly media conference held at Optus Stadium on Friday, and he delivered in a special moment with 14-year-old Freo fan Marley Kiernan.
Before taking questions from the media, Lyon called Marley up to the front as a special guest.
“Marley in his life had a tough fight on his hands with some significant illness,” Lyon said.
“He’s going ok at the minute and we’d just like to give him the opportunity…we’ve got the coin that gets tossed on the weekend and we’d like you to go out with the skippers on the weekend and toss the coin and, hopefully, get it going our way.
“We hope you enjoy that moment and we’ll be there supporting you.”
Marley was also given a special insight behind the scenes, going into the team meeting before training and watching from the sidelines as Freo prepare for Sunday’s clash with Brisbane.
Marley was born with Vater Syndrome, which is a sporadic association of specific birth defects or abnormalities. With this condition Marley has undergone numerous surgeries since birth.
Marley’s had a special link with the club since 2014 through the club’s support of the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
With Sunday’s game being celebrated as the Fremantle Dockers Foundation round, the club reached out to Marley and his family to see if they would like to be involved.
Marley Kiernan with Starlight ambassadors Chris Mayne, Lachie Neale and Aaron Sandlands in 2014.
The Fremantle Dockers Foundation was established to support the important on and off field work of the Fremantle Football Club.
It aims to engage and support the community through strong alliances with key charity partners and a focus on the club’s corporate social responsibility.
The foundation is proud to support a number of community organisations in 2018 as ‘Friends of the Foundation’. On Sunday, the foundation will share with the club’s members and supporters the important work of these aligned charity partners.
