Fremantle experimented with a tall forward line in Saturday’s intra-club match, the club’s first hit-out ahead of the NAB Challenge.
 
A clearly more experienced purple team, comprising as close to the best team Ross Lyon could pick, save for a few, easily accounted for the white team, which contained mainly young Freo Dockers and Peel Thunder players.
 
The final score was 16.9.105 to 0.4.4.
 
Freo went into the game with a clear plan to kick the ball into positions to advantage Aaron Sandilands, Zac Clarke, Michael Apeness and Matt Taberner.
 
Sandilands, a four-time All Australian ruckman, played exclusively from the goal square.
 
In an indication he could be used as a defender this season, Chris Mayne lined up for the white team and was tasked with playing on Taberner.
 
He defended very well and prevented the purple from scoring on a number of occasions, before being moved back into attack as a member of the purple team in the last quarter.
 
Michael Walters and Hayden Ballantyne were ever dangerous in attack for the purple team, feasting on any balls the talls didn’t mark.
 
The match was reduced to 16-on-16 in the second half as some players were shut down, including Walters and Michael Johnson.
 
Tom Sheridan and Hayden Crozier lined up on either wing for the purple team and won plenty of the ball. Crozier kicked four goals and Sheridan added one.
 
Nick Suban looked very fit and was highly influential in the clearances for the purple team. He also kicked a couple of goals in a strong display.
 
In defence for purple, Luke McPharlin, Alex Silvagni and Johnson were near impossible to pass on the few occasions the white team managed to go into attack.
 
Lyon mixed things up in the last quarter, with Michael Barlow and Lachie Neale changing from white to purple, and Suban and Clancee Pearce moving to white.