WITH key on-baller Rhys Palmer going down with a long-term knee injury, Fremantle's rookie list is being looked at with a critical eye – and defender Clancee Pearce is starting to mount a case for elevation.

Pearce, 19, played his best game since being rookie-listed last year in Swan Districts’ 19-point win over Claremont and development coach Steve Malaxos said the defender was ready for AFL football if called on.

"They (the rookies) are all getting looked at and if he keeps playing like that he wouldn't be out of place in AFL footy," Malaxos said.

"He's strong enough and he's just starting to come into his best form.

"He's pretty strong over the ball and he doesn’t shirk the issue – that was still evident.

"He was encouraged to attack more and he was more involved on the weekend."

Playing as an attacking defender, Pearce gathered 21 touches and kicked one goal.

Malaxos said Pearce's disposal was quite good and wouldn't hold him back at the next level, but there was room to improve.   

"His fitness was fine on the weekend, he worked as hard as anyone. He's toned up, but still has a little way to go. He can go to another level with his fitness but he's coming along quite well."

Young ruckman Zac Clarke also played a standout game for East Perth. The 20-year-old rucked nearly the whole match on his own and booted a crucial late goal in his side's win.

Andrew Foster made his return to East Fremantle's senior side, while Daniel Gilmore and Josh Head were both involved for the Bulldogs in the Fremantle derby. 

Ahead of Thursday' selection, Malaxos shared his WAFL notes with fremanltefc.com.au. 

South Fremantle 11.14 (80) d East Fremantle 11.8 (74)

Andrew Foster: This was his first senior game back for East Freo and he worked pretty solidly. He had four tackles and two goals in quite a promising start. But he's still a bit short of his best. He played on-ball and half-forward.

Chris Hall: Started well for the Sharks but then faded. He played about 65 minutes, which made it a little bit more difficult for him.

Daniel Gilmore: Played across half-forward and he led and presented well. He was constantly involved but some of his decision-making and disposal let him down.

Josh Head: Started slowly on Josh Kennedy, but finished the game well in the last quarter. Kennedy went off in the second quarter, and Head got better from then as the game went on.

Swan Districts 13.18 (96) d Claremont 11.11 (77)

Clancee Pearce: He played a really attacking defender's game for Swan Districts, including a goal. Probably his best game this year. We want all of our defenders to attack, and it just worked on the weekend that he was playing fairly high up and spent time working into the midfield as a defender.

Luke Pratt: He played well for Swans. Played on Ian Richardson and probably had the better of him. Richardson kicked three, but one of those was a relayed free kick. Luke had seven or eight possessions himself and did really well.

Michael Walters: What he did was good but he just couldn't get involved often enough. He was at his best when he was on ball. We would have liked to have seen him in the forward 50 a bit more. On a couple of occasions he worked into really good positions but wasn't used by his teammates.

Matt de Boer: Played a reasonable game for Claremont. What he did was good, but he just couldn't get involved often enough. He played forward and on-ball and just needs to work on some things.

Casey Sibosado (Claremont reserves): He's taking small steps and gradually doing better. He's not far away from being in the senior team. They had a good win and he was a dangerous forward.

Perth 13.8 (86) lost to West Perth 15.15 (105)

Marcus Drum: Just steady across half-back for Perth. He was reliable without having a really good game.

Adam Campbell: He improved on the week before for West Perth. He had six shots on goal including an out-on-the-full, so he was more involved. He's normally a very good set-shot as well, so that was a little off for him.  

Subiaco 10.13 (73) lost to East Perth 10.16 (76)

Zac Clarke: He played well in East Perth's win. Rucked most of the day and kicked a crucial goal when he took the ball out of the ruck, which was really smart play. We don't want t him to ruck all day – generally he'll ruck 70 minutes, but he did a lot more on the weekend and handled that fine. He was crucial getting them over the line.