Crowley v Ablett

In round 5 last year, Gary Ablett Jr took to his Twitter account while Freo was playing Carlton at Patersons Stadium. The champion midfielder typed that Freo tagger Ryan Crowley was playing the man, not the ball, in his tussle with Carlton’s Chris Judd. Freo played Gold Coast the following week, a game Ablett missed because of injury. This Saturday, Crowley and Ablett locking horns are at about the same odds as a Black Caviar win. Ablett is clearly Gold Coast’s most dangerous midfielder. He’s probably the most dangerous midfielder in the AFL, full stop. All eyes and Twitter accounts will be firmly focused on this match-up.

Captain Luke Mac

In Matthew Pavlich’s absence, Luke McPharlin will captain Fremantle. He showed in last Friday night’s match against Richmond that Ross Lyon’s motto ‘failure is feedback’ reverberates strongly with him, after he performed all aspects of the coin toss without a glitch. The same can’t be said for Luke’s previous attempt. On the field, McPharlin was simply outstanding, as he has been for years. He’ll probably line up on one of the AFL’s form forwards in Charlie Dixon on Saturday night.

Watch Luke Mac's coin-toss last year

Life without Fyfe

Nat Fyfe's failure in his bid to overturn a two-match suspension will give someone the chance to step up and fill the breach on Saturday night. Nick Suban is a prime candidate following his excellent performance coming on as the sub against Richmond. He’s a strong contested ball winner, which is Fyfe’s forte. Youngsters Cam Sutcliffe and Lachie Neale will also be desperate for another crack.

Watch the Fyfe incident

Hello again Greg

As was the case in round 2, when Freo took on former teammate Nick Lower, Saturday night will be ex-Freo Docker Greg Broughton’s first match against his old side. There haven’t been any banterous exchanges of text messages as of yet, according to Broughton’s former backline teammate Lee Spurr.

Big win needed ahead of a tough fortnight

If Freo can win against Gold Coast off the back of a thrilling one-point win over Richmond, it will set the club up nicely ahead of a tough fortnight. After the Suns, Freo comes back home to face Collingwood under lights at Patersons Stadium on a Saturday night, followed by a clash with reigning premiers Sydney at the SCG.