The Fremantle Dockers will be keen to open their account for season 2016 when they meet the Adelaide Crows on Saturday afternoon at the Adelaide Oval.
Sitting in last place on the AFL ladder, Freo will need to hit the ground running if they are to push the ninth-placed Crows at home.
Adelaide are the second highest scoring team in the competition, averaging 118-points compared to Freo’s 73.
Freo’s defence has been below what they would be aiming for, letting through an average 105 points, but the Crows are leaking 100-points as well.
From the archives: Bell winds back the clock
Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs looms as a significant challenge to the Freo ruck pairing of Jonathon Griffin and Zac Clarke.
Jacobs is the fourth ranked ruckman in the competition, averaging 36 hitouts, and could prove a match-winner for the Crows.
Griffin and Clarke, who average 28 hitouts between them, will need to be at their best to minimise Jacobs’ influence.
With Nat Fyfe missing from the Freo side for the foreseeable future, 22-year-old Lachie Neale – averaging 31 touches in 2016 – could take charge of the midfield.
The South Australian-recruit is the club’s highest contested possession winner, with 14.6 per match, and will be up against Adelaide’s Matt Crouch, Rory Sloane and Scott Thompson who all average 12.8.
Neale is also Freo’s clearance king, sitting just outside the league’s top 10 with 6.2 clearances, and will be up against 21-year-old Crow Matt Crouch with 6.6.
Freo skipper backs Blakely
Freo will need to shut down Adelaide’s uncontested ball winners, with the Crows ranked seventh, averaging 229 uncontested possessions each week.
The main targets for Freo in this area are Brodie Smith and Rory Laird, who use their average 18 and 17.8 uncontested possessions to set up Adelaide’s attacking forays in the backhalf.
Fremantle are ranked fourth in the competition for tackles, laying an impressive 72 per match, and will use this to close Smith and Laird’s run out of defence.
Freo will put their trust in the tough-as-nails Brady Grey, who laid 10 tackles last week against Carlton, to ramp up that tackling pressure.
The Crows are ranked 10th in the competition, with 67 tackles, and are led in this department by Thompson (7.2) and Sloane (6).
