Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe has high expectations of his teammates and himself to deliver on what could be an exciting season for the Fremantle Dockers in 2021.
The two-time Brownlow Medallist sent a warning to the rest of the competition at Thursday’s AFL Season Launch at Crown Perth, saying he expected himself and the whole team to be better than in recent seasons.
“For my game, I feel like I’m in as good (of a) condition to play the best footy of my career,” Fyfe said.
“We’re starting to feel the hype externally. I think everyone can see what we’re doing at the club. We invested heavily in the draft and our time is coming.
“So tell everyone you know when you leave here tonight, ‘don’t sleep on the Dockers’ as we’re not far away.”
A number of Fremantle players spoke at the season launch, including young guns Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Adam Cerra and Luke Ryan.
Serong, Cerra and Ryan all sat out Sunday’s AAMI Community Series game against West Coast but the trio all declared they expect to be fit for round one.
Like Fyfe, Brayshaw said he’s aiming to take big strides in 2021.
“I’m looking to build on my game every year. Last year was a nice step forward and I’m looking to do the same thing again,” Brayshaw said.
“There’s plenty of aspects of my game that need improving and I’ve been working on that hard this pre-season.
“Hopefully, I can get a bit more attacking, a bit more aggressive through the middle.
“There’s plenty of bits and pieces that I’m learning off these guys here (the leadership group) and plenty of coaches back at the club. Hopefully, I can take another step forward.”
Cerra said that he expects to see Freo’s younger mids carry more of the weight in the midfield.
“Caleb had massive steps last year and is looking to dominate this year,” Cerra said.
“Andy’s had a solid pre-season himself and is looking to build again on last year.
“With all the young guys coming up in the midfield, hopefully it takes a bit of the weight off Nathan (Fyfe), David (Mundy) and Sonny (Michael Walters) and we can get more boys through there and help them out.”
Despite being the reigning Doig Medallist and a 2020 All Australian, Ryan agreed with recent comments from Fyfe that teammate Brennan Cox was Freo’s no.1 defender.
“He (Brennan) definitely is (no.1). I don’t want to pump up his tyres too much but he’s had a massive pre-season,” Ryan said.
“He’s the fittest and strongest he’s been so far. We’ve just got a little glimpse of what he can do.
“It’s really exciting for us and I’m looking forward to see what he can do in the years to come.”
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