Stephen Hill returns, while Matt Taberner and Hayden Crozier have been rewarded for solid WAFL form with inclusion in the 25-man squad, which will be cut to a final 22 on Friday afternoon.
Stay tuned to fremantlefc.com.au at 2.30pm (WST) on Friday to find out the final 22.
Fremantle assistant/senior development coach Simon Lloyd said Hill was a big inclusion.
“Stephen Hill gives off a fair bit of run to the team and great ball use as well,” he said.
“Come Sunday at the MCG, ‘Hilly’ is really going to give us a fair bit of explosive speed and he also allows some of our other runners to get in to the game.”
Crozier has consistently been among Peel Thunder’s best players and could get his chance to show form at AFL level again.
“We saw last week down at Peel that he got a fair bit of the football and made some really good decisions,” Lloyd said.
“He’s a classy ball user and he’s just going to improve.”
Lloyd described Taberner as a ‘workhorse’ who would have earned his spot in the senior side if selected.
“Matt runs himself into the ground,” he said.
“He’s one that, last week, was very impressive for Peel. The amount of times he provides that outlet lead and he’s got a strong set of hands on him.
“And we’ve seen at different times this year he can be called upon and he’s improving.”
Garrick Ibbotson will miss a third game in succession with an Achilles injury, but Lloyd said the classy defender was working hard to return.
“Over the coming week, we’ll increase his running, and he’ll come back into our program and before we know it, he’ll hopefully be back playing senior football,” he said.
“He’s very important to us.”
Melbourne sits 17th on the AFL ladder, but Lloyd said the Demons had improved in a number of key performance indicators under Neil Craig.
“We really respect Neil Craig, he’s been in the game a long period of time,” he said.
“Neil’s forcing them to play a lot more contested football, there’s a lot more stoppages for Melbourne now.
“Also they’ve been more impressive in recent weeks with their ball movement, some of their chains coming out of defensive 50.
“We’ve got to make sure we play our brand of football.”
