Freo Line-up: Freo aims high
Find out the final 22 for the Carlton Mid Derby against the West Coast Eagles
Fremantle has called on the tall timber for Sunday’s Carlton Mid Derby against West Coast, selecting ruckman Jon Griffin and key defender Alex Silvagni in the final 22.
Jesse Crichton has also been included, with the three omissions being Garrick Ibbotson, Lee Spurr and Dylan Roberton.
Griffin, who has not played in the same team as Sandilands since joining Freo last season, will help the three-time All Australian battle in-form Eagles’ ruck duo Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui.
Silvagni comes in for his first Freo game of the season after playing WAFL for Claremont up to this point.
Assistant coach Michael Prior said the 24-year-old was a valuable addition to the team because of his versatility.
“We just think with West Coast’s forward line and the way they structure up with an extra tall, there’s a role for Alex to play,” he said.
“We’ve seen that he can play back or go forward for us, so depending on what the Eagles throw out there, whether it’s a tall forward line or small, we’ve got a couple of options.”
After winning seven consecutive Derbies, Fremantle dropped both games to West Coast last season, including the epic one-point defeat in round 18.
Prior said the atmosphere around the club had been positive all week and that Freo was looking forward to atoning for a poor performance against Hawthorn last week.
“What we dished up last week wasn’t good enough and we know that,” he said.
“The good thing about footy is that there’s always next week, and this week just happens to be a Derby, which is a great stage for us to show we’re better than what we produced last week.”
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