Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe believes Brennan Cox will be one of Fremantle’s most important players in 2021 as a handful of Freo defenders bounce back from injury-interrupted 2020 seasons.

Alex Pearce and Joel Hamling are building back to their best after missing last season due to injury, while Griffin Logue’s comeback has been slowed by a pre-season hamstring injury.

Conversely, Fyfe has seen Brennan Cox continue his rapid improvement this pre-season after a career-best 2020 season.

“I think what we will see is we can’t fit them all (Pearce, Hamling, Logue, Cox) into the same side, but some of them have had compromised pre-seasons,” Fyfe told 3AW Sportsday.

“Griffin Logue is out with a soft tissue at the moment. Joel Hamling is coming back from the ankle. Alex Pearce is just building back through his training loads and game loads.

“Cox had trained really well across the summer. He had his best off-season to date and he looks to be our number one key defender at the moment.

Originally drafted as a versatile key forward and defender, Fyfe believes that Cox has found his place down back.

He added that the rapid growth of good friend and fellow 2016 draftee Luke Ryan, who was named in the 2020 All Australian team, will help drive Cox to similar heights.

“(Brennan) reads the ball in the air as well as any defender that I’ve played against, we’ve done a bit together in match simulation,” Fyfe said.

“Coxy knows what he’s capable of and I think his best mate, Luke Ryan, getting an all Australian nod last year has really opened up the possibilities for his own career and where he can possibly go.

“We’ve seen that in his training and in his application.

“He’s a different cat. The group absolutely love the way he brings the energy on field.

“With his training standards, we’re hopeful that he sees himself as being one of the best defenders in the comp and, hopefully, he can string together that sort of a season.”