Hayden Ballantyne would be a welcome inclusion in the midfield, according to Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands.
Senior coach Ross Lyon hinted that Ballantyne might spend time in the centre against Carlton on Saturday night after a quite few weeks for the All Australian small forward.
Sandilands said Ballantyne had trained in the midfield during a recent pre-season and had the engine to play in the centre.
“He definitely has the running capabilities,” he said.
“He knows how to win the ball, I’d love to have him in there.”
Ballantyne was held goalless on the weekend but Sandilands said he worked as hard as ever off the ball.
Sandilands said one of Ballantyne’s best attributes was his pressure on opposition players.
Pressure is a hard stat to measure, but ask any AFL player and coach and they will tell you how crucial it is to winning the ball.
“If you watch the work that Hayden does off the ball, the tackling and pressure, he mightn’t be getting a lot of the pip but his intensity around the ball and effort is there,” Sandilands said.
“Ballas is one of our leaders of the club.
Match Preview: Fremantle v Carlton
“You can never question his effort and the way he goes about it.
“When you have guys like that in your side, they’re always going to turn it around at some point.
“The best thing about Ballas is that his mood doesn’t change much, regardless of win or loss.”
Fremantle play Carlton at Domain Stadium on Saturday 18 July. Bounce down is at 5.40pm.
