Fremantle mixed things up in the midfield in its 42-point win over Carlton on Saturday night in a bid to regain its clearance ascendancy, according to Lachie Neale.
 
Among the effective moves was playing star midfielder Nat Fyfe on the outside of several stoppages and rotating a variety of players such as Matthew Pavlich and Michael Walters through the centre.

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Fremantle won the clearance count 41 to 37 and despite Fyfe playing a different role, he still made eight clearances.
 
“We just had to come in with a bit more of a plan,” Neale said.
 
“We wanted to be a little bit more unpredictable.”

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Neale, who had 31 disposals and six clearances, said the change was designed to combat the trend of opposition sides’ clogging the stoppages.
 
“Teams seemed to be crowding up the stoppages a bit,” he said.
 
“We had to change it up.
 
“We got a couple of clean clearances as well, which was nice.”

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Neale said Fyfe’s role added to the unpredictability and freed up other players.
 
“We knew Nathan was going to get a bit of attention, like he does most weeks,” he said.
 
“He did a team first role today and played on the wing to help release guys in and free up a few players.”