WITH coach Mark Harvey flagging his intentions to rest young players later this season, it is worth considering a young trio performing at different levels of the WAFL that can eventually step in to replace the likes of Stephen Hill and Nic Suban.

Lively forward Tim Ruffles has had a consistent month at the lower level and was development coach Steve Malaxos' WAFL performer of the week.

The 18-year-old booted two goals for Perth and has been earmarked for this week's trip to AAMI Stadium to take on the Crows.

Medium-sized defender Luke Pratt, who debuted against Carlton in round seven but has been toiling in the WAFL since, has also kick-started his campaign for a recall.

The 19-year-old moved into the midfield for Swan Districts in round 15 of the WAFL and provided plenty of grunt, finishing with 10 tackles. 

"We were really pleased that he played onball," Malaxos said.

"We've been pushing Swans to give him time onball. They'll use him as they see fit, but we'd like them to use him in different positions.

"He hasn't been able to progress a lot since that round seven game because of injury, so we're looking for him to progress in his ball-handling and how to use the ball."

Four of Fremantle's nine debutants so far have been rookies, and in the last month of the season Jay van Berlo will at least push to be the fifth.

Stress fractures in his shin have kept the first-year rookie off the park for most of this season, but he returned impressively a fortnight ago to have 14 possessions and two goals in a half of reserves football.

Malaxos said he performed similarly this week and was coming along well.

"It was more about getting through the game, getting some touches and getting bumped around a bit. We'll be looking for him to step it up a bit this week," Malaxos said.

"The plan is that he steadily improves over the next month at West Perth, and then hopefully in the last three or four weeks he's playing well enough to challenge.

"The first step is to play well at WAFL level."

Fremantle was quiet in the WAFL. Marcus Drum (illness) withdrew late and Chris Hall and Casey Sibosado both missed with groin complaints.

Malaxos said the groin injuries were not serious and the club was being cautious, however, both Hall and Sibosado are in doubt for this week. 

Ahead of Thursday's selection, Malaxos shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.

Swan Districts 24.14 (158) d East Fremantle 8.12 (60)

Luke Pratt
Played onball for the first three quarters in a new role for him and finished with 11 disposals and a goal. He did some hard work and the statisticians had him down for 10 tackles. In the last quarter he went back into defence on Ryley Dunn. A reasonable effort from Pratty in a new role, but he looked like he needed a game after missing a few with injury.

West Perth 16.7 (103) lost to Perth 21.12 (138)

Adam Campbell
He started well and kicked two goals, but we'd like him more involved as a forward. He went into the ruck at times for West Perth and also played the last 15 minutes at full-back, but that's a couple of weeks in a row where he's started well and faded. We'd like him to be more consistent.

Tim Ruffles
He played reasonably well, mainly forward for Perth. He went back for a brief period and he crumbed pretty well. He had four shots at goal, booting two, and continues to impress. When he's a forward he's allowed to push up the ground.

Jay Van Berlo (reserves)
Jay just played another 50 minutes in the twos, to be cautious. He got through and had 12 possessions for West Perth. He'll get more game time this week but we're still deciding whether it’s in reserves or the league.

South Fremantle 25.11 (161) d Claremont 12.11 (83)

Josh Head
He had a pretty good duel with Beau Wilkes from West Coast. I thought Josh had a reasonable performance and used the ball quite well. His form has picked up in the last couple of weeks, but he's still short of his best.

Ryan Murphy
Better this week, but still short of his best. He certainly led and presented a lot more than the previous week, which was the main thing we wanted him to do. He had a few opportunities to take contested marks, but wasn't able to get in the right position for them, so that's something for him to work on. Kicked 3.2 for Souths, but two of those were late in the game.

Ben Bucovaz (reserves)
Ben's been used both onball and forward so far, but this week he played exclusively forward. That's where he was recruited to play and it seemed to help him – he played an improved game. He led with more purpose and played smarter. His team was convincingly beaten and he had a few challenges, but he acquitted himself reasonably well. He's very close to playing league for Claremont, either this week or next week. 

East Perth 13.5 (83) d Subiaco 10.18 (78)

Hamish Shepheard
Played in the ruck for East Perth and won a few hit-outs. He's doing some good work at the stoppages but he just hasn't been able to get enough of the football around the ground. He also went forward for a period.