Forward Sam Switkowski and key defenders Alex Pearce and Joel Hamling will play their first AFL games in more than a year when they run out with Fremantle in round one against Melbourne at the MCG.
Switkowski and Hamling last played in Freo’s round 23 game against Port Adelaide on 25 August 2019, while it will be 658 days between games for Alex Pearce, last playing for Fremantle against Collingwood in round 11, 2019.
Hayden Young will also play his first game since injuring his ankle against St Kilda in round 6 last season.
They are joined by debutant Lloyd Meek, Connor Blakely, Tobe Watson and Matt Taberner as a group of eight players who did not take part in Freo’s final game of the 2020 season against the Western Bulldogs.
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Meek was told he would make his debut in a team meeting on Wednesday, with senior coach Justin Longmuir saying the 22-year-old ruckman had demanded selection with his work rate.
"The thing I love about you mate, is you've stepped up to every challenge that we've thrown at you,” Longmuir said.
"You've stepped up this preseason and you deserve this opportunity.”
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After a pre-season injury to Rory Lobb, Fremantle go into the clash with one key forward in Taberner.
There will be depth in the midfield to allow the likes of Nat Fyfe and David Mundy to roll forward, with Freo naming a number of players capable of running through the middle in Blakely, Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Adam Cerra and Blake Acres.
Stefan Giro, Sean Darcy, Leno Thomas and Heath Chapman have been named as the emergencies, with Darcy, Giro and Thomas travelling with the team.
Under a new AFL rule brought in on Wednesday, each team can designate one emergency as a ‘medical sub’.
The ‘medical sub’ is essentially a team’s 23rd player who can come on if another player has been assessed by a club doctor and determined to be ‘medically unfit’ to continue due to injury or concussion.
The ‘medical sub’ will be confirmed by the Club 60 minutes prior to bouncedown and will be announced on fremantlefc.com.au.
Bouncedown for the clash is at 1.45pm EDST (10.45am WST) and will be broadcast live into Perth on Channel 7 and Fox Footy.
The game can also be streamed on Kayo.
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