ALL EYES were on Michael Johnson as he returned to the WAFL after serving a six-week club suspension, and he competed strongly in his first game back for Perth.

Demons teammate Joel Houghton also showed signs that he is progressing as planned as a mobile forward, working well with Johnson as the pair rotated between the forward line and the ruck.

Sixteen Fremantle players lined up in round 14 of the state competition, and Steven Dodd was the pick of them, winning the club's WAFL player of the round award.

Ahead of this week’s fixtures, senior development coach Simon Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.

South Fremantle 14.17 (101) d Peel Thunder 11.5 (71)
Ryan Murphy
Ryan played mainly at full-forward but was given a bit of time in the middle as an onballer in the first half. He had a very slow start to the game and his day was a contrast of two halves. His second half he really worked himself into the game and was able to provide a good leading target up forward. He took some good contested marks and finished with 3.4.

Jesse Crichton
Jesse had an excellent first quarter playing mainly on the wing but spent the second quarter at half-back. He gathered eight possessions in the first quarter and showed great pace when he ran and carried the ball. He made good decisions when he had the ball in his hands and worked hard back into defence, jumping in front of Murphy to close off his space.

Claremont 24.13 (157) d East Perth 6.18 (54)
Byron Schammer
Byron split his time between half-forward and onball and was made to work hard for every one of his 16 possessions. His spread from stoppages was very good and there were numerous times where he received the ball after running hard for 60 to 80 metres. We'll use this as learning edits for our younger players so they can see how hard you have to work and how quickly you need to spread to receive the footy as a midfielder. His use of the ball inside 50 was very good.

Zac Clarke
Zac spent about 15 minutes of each quarter forward and 10 minutes in the ruck and his tap work was good, out-jumping his opponent at centre bounces to get effective taps. He held his ground well at boundary throw-ins and was able to win a few free kicks by taking front position. His second efforts were very good and one resulted in a goal for his side.

Swan Districts 14.12 (96) d East Fremantle 7.11 (53)
Clayton Hinkley
Clayton started at half-forward and moved into the middle on a couple of occasions, also lining up on the wing. We've spoken to Clayton about running and carrying the ball, and he did that, so we really got to see some speed from him. He kicked a good goal in the second quarter and hit some targets, so it was a good game from Clayton.

Clancee Pearce
Clancee started at half-forward rotated between there and the wing for four quarters. He had a reasonable game, the highlight being the last quarter when he had 10 touches and four marks. He showed a good line at the contest and provided an outlet for his team coming out of defence.

Michael Walters
Michael started at half-forward and pushed into the midfield for a couple of centre bounces. He spent some time on the wing and had a really good start to the game and set up a goal for the team with a classic switch of play kick. He laid six tackles, but none of them were really big hits that changed the state of play. So it was an OK game for Michael without being great. We'd like him to be a bit more active around stoppages.

Ben Bucovaz
Ben received a knock to his knee early but he had it strapped and was able to keep going. Ben's really set the standards higher over the last few weeks, but he didn't get much of the ball in the first half this week and the main positive was that he was able to play out the game. He played deep forward for most of the game and only occasionally came up the ground. He's shown a lot over the last three weeks, particularly with his work rate and forward pressure.

Chris Hall
Chris started at half-forward and played small periods on the wing. He got in the middle for a couple of centre bounces, which we were pleased with, but his game was just OK. He showed great run in the second quarter, starting a chain of play at half-back and then running 150m to mark the ball inside 50. However, he found himself missing for large periods.

Steven Dodd
Steven started at centre half-forward before moving onball in the second half. He was tagged by Matt Riggio in the first half and looked lively up forward, clearly beating his opponent. He ended up taking nine grabs and provided a really good outlet for teammates coming off half-back. When he moved into the midfield he had a hand in some really good clearances and kicked two goals.

Subiaco 14.15 (99) d Perth 14.10 (94)
Greg Broughton
Greg played just 35 minutes of the game before he got injured but he was still named in Subiaco's best players after racking up 15 touches in that short space of time. He was terrific in that period, taking a strong contested grab on the wing. When Subiaco won possession down back he took off and was often used. Hopefully he'll come up over the next week.

Michael Johnson
Michael competed strongly across centre half-forward and pushed into the ruck for periods, playing the exact role he does at Fremantle. He showed some good awareness and created a lot of space goal-side of his opponent, kicking two goals himself, one from outside 50. He gave his teammates direction and showed on-field leadership. It was a strong performance and a very positive day for Michael.

Joel Houghton
Joel played mainly forward and pinch-hit in the ruck as well, and it was great for him to play alongside Michael. He was often in the line of the ball-carrier and took a couple of strong lead-up marks, finishing with seven grabs and 1.2. He made some very good decisions when he had the footy and we're very happy with Joel. His work rate and leading patterns were really good, although he did fade late in the game.

Tim Ruffles
Tim played across half-forward and rotated onball. His first half was very quiet but then he was able to double his output in the second half. He showed he can read the ball well off a pack situation and when he had the ball he showed some great pace. Late in the game he really put his body on the line.

Casey Sibosado
Casey played in defence on Marc Re and was often used in the link out of the backline when Perth won the footy. He's such a good user of the ball and he constantly disposed well by foot and made some good decision. He beat his opponent and we were really pleased with Casey's game. He's demanding the ball now and is hardly wasting a disposal.

The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the club.