Star defender Luke McPharlin has joined comeback kid Anthony Morabito in Fremantle’s team to face Melbourne in Darwin on Saturday night.

Coming out of the 22 that beat West Coast was young tall Matt Taberner (hamstring) and Clancee Pearce (omitted).

The emergencies for the game are Pearce, Hayden Crozier and Tommy Sheridan.

Freo general manager of football operations Chris Bond said Morabito’s return after more than three years on the sidelines was a ‘fantastic’ story.

“There’s so much work he’s done over the past few years, it’ll be a great feeling for him and his family and it’s well deserved,” he said.

“He’s played really consistent football this year so we’re really pleased with the work that he’s been able to get under his belt.”

Bond said there would be no great expectations placed on Morabito other than what was expected of every player in the team.

“The expectations for us aren’t enormous,” he said.

“He just needs to go out and play the way that we want to play, with great effort, which we know that he will do.

“If he does that, I’m sure that he’ll perform well.”

McPharlin has been out since injuring his knee in round 12 against Adelaide, but Bond said he got through Thursday’s training without any problems.

“We were really confident he would (get up), he’s had a really good week on the track,” Bond said.

“He was really close last week as well.

“It’s huge for us, one of our key backmen to come back into the team. He offers great leadership, as well.”

Bond added Taberner, who performed solidly in the Derby after being thrust into a key defensive role, was unfortunate to go out through injury.

“We were really pleased with what he’s doing and how he’s progressing, but the injury isn’t significant,’ he said.

Bond said the team was looking forward to playing in Darwin, but that it would be business as usual.

“It’s a different journey for us but our determination is exactly the same, we need to go up and bank four points,” he said.

“We’ve got an enormous amount of respect for our opposition, they’re really well-coached, but they also have some terrific young players and some dangerous tall forwards.

“From our point of view, it’s going to be a real challenge, but we’re looking forward to it and, hopefully, we can get the job done.”