Hill clear

Stephen Hill was involved in an incident with Brisbane tagger Andrew Raines on Saturday that was looked at by the AFL Match Review Panel. Any concerns about the exciting Freo midfielder’s availability for this week’s game have been laid to rest after the panel’s findings were released on Monday:
Contact between Fremantle’s Stephen Hill and the Brisbane Lions’ Andrew Raines from the second quarter of Saturday’s match was assessed. The force used was below that required to constitute a reportable offence. No further action was taken.

Fyfe’s frantic minute

Midfielder Nat Fyfe has become one of the league’s best contested ball winners, and therefore is closely watched by the opposition at every stoppage. The 21-year-old attacked the packs with intensity at the start of the second quarter on Saturday. But Brisbane weren’t affording him too much space, tackling the young star an incredible six times in the first 90 seconds. By the time the ball was eventually cleared from the pack, an exhausted Fyfe looked to stagger off the ground for a break, but two of his teammates beat him to it, thus forcing him to stay in the match a little while longer.  

Freo’s brick wall defence

Fremantle’s miserly defence was at it stingy best on Saturday, limiting the Lions to just six goals. Ross Lyon’s side has conceded the least points in the AFL so far this season, with the 770 allowed well ahead of second-placed Sydney on 848. Freo has conceded more than 80 points in a match just once this season, against Hawthorn in Launceston when All Australian defender Luke McPharlin was a late withdrawal.

Crowls’ points to the crowd

With his opponent subbed off, 150-gamer Ryan Crowley took the opportunity to drift forward and hit the scoreboard on Saturday. After duly converting a set-shot, ‘Crowls’ pointed to the stands where his friends were sitting, cheering the tagger on.

Black subbed

Crowley’s opponent on Saturday was Brisbane Lions’ great Simon Black, who was playing a club-record 319th match. But Black’s afternoon ended early when he was subbed off in the third term. Despite winning their head-to-head battle, Crowley was full of praise for the West Australian midfielder after the match. “He has one of the best resumes in football and he is a tough opponent, one of the hardest I’ve played on over the years,” the tagger said.

Danyle Pearce’s icing on the hard-work cake

The Port Adelaide recruit has already displayed a penchant for kicking booming goals from outside 50 this season. He did it again on Saturday, but Pearce would be the first to admit he simply put the finishing touches on a relentless display of team pressure that led to the ball being in his hands.