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Round 1 team locked in!

Two-time Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe feels his mantle as Freo’s no.1 midfielder is under threat, and he’s more than happy to give up the title.

Darcy Tucker was among Freo’s best in their second Marsh Community Series clash against West Coast a fortnight ago, racking up 24 disposals and six marks.

On the eve of Fremantle’s round one clash against Essendon at Marvel Stadium, Fyfe predicted that the 23-year-old Tucker was poised to break out.

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'We know how passionate they are' | Fyfe

Nat Fyfe talks Sam Sturt, Darcy Tucker and the passionate Freo fans ahead of our Round 1 clash with Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

“I think he’s ready to take his game to that next level,” Fyfe said. 

“His pre-season to me has indicated that he’s not interested in being a fourth or fifth string midfielder. 

“He wants to take that mantle and I’m really happy to be able to support him to do that, and give him that number one spot if he’s up for it. 

“Hopefully, he becomes a high quality player for us.” 

Fyfe said he couldn’t wait to see what his young teammates could achieve against the Bombers in the engine room.

“It’s exciting isn’t it? For me, having guys like Adam Cerra, Andy Brayshaw, Darcy Tucker, James Aish floating around there, Brett Bewley, Mitch Crowden will also be in there. It’s good,” Fyfe said.

It’s a new breed of Fremantle midfielders and, hopefully, this is the group that’s going to drive our team back up the ladder.

- Nat Fyfe

Fyfe added that debutant Sam Sturt will be an exciting addition to Fremantle’s starting 22, but said there were no expectations on the 19-year-old.

“He’s lightning quick and we will probably play him as a deeper forward and try and isolate him and use his wheels,” Fyfe said. 

“There’s no expectations on a debut player. I think we want to see him enjoy himself as much as he can, albeit it will be a weird debut with no fans.

“We see him as someone who can learn our game plan quickly and add some real firepower for us.”

Both Fremantle and Essendon went unbeaten in the Marsh Community Series and Fyfe said there would be a lot of unknowns early in the game. 

“They had a pretty strong Marsh series, beating West Coast over in WA,” Fyfe said.

“They’re a bit like us, they’re an unknown. We think we’re well prepped on the way they want to play and we’ve got a good plan to try and combat that. 

“After 15 minutes we’ll have an idea of where we stand against them.”