‘Duff’ 150
Paul Duffield lines up for game 150 on the weekend. ‘Duff’ made his debut against St Kilda in a little game known as ‘Sirengate’ back in 2006. He’ll also play against the Saints in the game that makes him eligible for life membership at Fremantle. There have been some bumps along the way in his career, but Duffield is now established as a leader in Freo’s league-leading backline. Well done ‘Duff’.
‘Subes’ 100
The other milestone man at Etihad Stadium on Saturday will be Nick Suban. ‘Subes’ is coming off a great run of form over the past month and he’s been consistent from the start of the year. It was interesting to listen to 6PR’s Sports Today hosts Karl Langdon and Brad Hardie talk about Suban’s 99th game last weekend. They rated him one of the best players on the ground against GWS but could hardly believe he had just 13 disposals. It goes to show the impact Suban can make on the team without needing to have a lot of the ball.
Nine in a row
If Fremantle emerges victorious against St Kilda it will equal the club’s record for most wins in succession, which was nine from rounds 14-22 back in 2006. Are the players thinking about the record? “We honestly don’t really think about it, we just want to prepare well and train hard and when we get on the flight, just be ready, because we know that in this league, if you’re five per cent off, anything can happen,” Nick Suban said.
Freo's everything to me - Suban
Multicultural Freo
This week’s game is the AFL’s Multicultural Round. Freo has eight players on its list who have at least one parent that was born overseas. Look out for an article on fremantlefc.com.au on Friday detailing whom these players are and what their background is.
St Lenny retires
St Kilda champion Lenny Hayes announced during the week that this will be his last season of AFL. One of the most admired players in the league, Hayes has the complete respect of Freo senior coach Ross Lyon, who coached the midfielder into three Grand Finals. Hayes won the Norm Smith Medal in the drawn Grand Final of 2010 for an incredible effort.
Replacing ‘Ballas’
Freo will be without Hayden Ballantyne on Saturday, meaning it won’t have either of its dangerous small forwards, as Michael Walters is injured. Will the club recall Matt de Boer, who was very good in the WAFL, or perhaps a young forward will be given a go? Hayden Crozier has also been performing consistently for Peel. A player who had been given a go in the Freo team as a small forward during the pre-season was Max Duffy. Injury has kept the second-year player out for most of the home-and-away season, but he’s returned to the Thunder and he kicked two goals on the weekend. We’ll see at 4.25pm (WST) on Thursday who Freo choose.
