As Fremantle prepare to head to Mt Barker for their second NAB Challenge game against Adelaide, defensive coach Brent Guerra said pre-season games for Freo have been invaluable.

“They’re really important,” Guerra said.

“We’ve changed some things this pre-season, so getting minutes into our players is really important.”

Part of Freo’s emphasis on pre-season competition is also due to getting younger players acclimatised with AFL level football. 

“We’ve got a few young players coming into the side, so we’ll be giving them game time,” he said.

“Lachie Weller went well last week, as did Darcy Tucker although he won’t be playing this week.

“It’s really about giving the younger guys the opportunity.”

Michael Johnson excited about Freo defence

Guerra was excited about the addition of two Freo youngsters to the side, with both Ethan Hughes and Ed Langdon playing their first game of the year against Adelaide on Sunday.

"Hughes is very athletic and a good mark down back so we’ll play him in a role where he can assist our other defenders,” he said.

“And Ed (Langdon) is just a running machine so he’ll be looking to get a lot of the ball through the middle.”