The top 2

Fremantle fans will have to put a piece of hard wood in their mouths and bite down hard this weekend. Our top two hopes will be vastly enhanced should Collingwood and West Coast emerge victorious over top four sides Hawthorn and Geelong respectively.

Craig’s Demons

This is Fremantle’s second clash with Melbourne this season, but with Mark Neeld gone, former Adelaide boss Neil Craig has taken over the reins. Fremantle will look for a professional performance against the AFL cellar-dwellers. The club defeated the Demons at Etihad Stadium in round 16 last year, but Melbourne won the last match between the sides at the MCG by 89 points in 2011.

‘G’ hitout

Sunday’s game at the home of football comes at an important time for Freo because the strong possibility remains that the club will play a final at the ground. Our only appearance at the MCG this season was a 27-point loss to fellow finals team Richmond in round 17.

Foot on the pedal

Don’t expect Fremantle to go easy against the 17th placed team on the ladder. Ross Lyon reminded journalists this week that the club hit the 2012 finals series with momentum after a big round 23 win over Melbourne. He has no plans to do any differently this year.

Pav and Sandi build

Sunday’s match offers Freo’s senior citizens Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands invaluable match time ahead of the finals. The pair have spent the majority of the season on the sidelines, but plans now are to play as much as possible and hit September in good condition.