IT HAS been more than three years since classy defender Roger Hayden ran around in the WAFL, but after 11 weeks off with a broken leg, he put in a polished performance for South Fremantle.  

Coach Mark Harvey suggested last week that Hayden could return for Fremantle as a forward and the 28-year-old split his time between defence and attack for the Bulldogs.

He finished with 18 disposals and 1.3, and development coach Steve Malaxos said he had done everything required to make his AFL return against Essendon on Sunday.

"He pulled up fine, and the good thing was it was a Friday night, so it gives him a nine-day break," Malaxos said.

"He wasn't best on ground, but he played well enough and looked in pretty good touch."

Hayden's South Fremantle teammate Daniel Gilmore was Malaxos' WAFL Player of the Week after his 37-possession game on a wing.

Gilmore has averaged 28 possessions in his last four WAFL games, and Malaxos said his disposal efficiency had been improving. 

Meanwhile, small defender Luke Pratt was instructed to focus on his strengths this week and he came out the other end with 11 tackles to his name after an impressive defensive performance on former Eagle Steven Armstrong.

Pratt debuted for Fremantle in round seven but hasn't been able to break into the side since. Malaxos said the form of small to medium sized defenders such as Greg Broughton, Paul Duffield, Clancee Pearce and Nic Suban was keeping him out.

"We've got a lot of half-backs and players of that ilk that are going okay," Malaxos said. "But he's just got to keep playing well for Swans.

"We've tried to give him some different roles. At times he's gone onball in the last four to six weeks as well, which has been good for him."

Ahead of Thursday's selection, Malaxos shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au. 

South Fremantle 8.19 (67) d East Fremantle 7.9 (51)

Roger Hayden
He played 68.23 per cent of the game to be absolutely precise and we wanted him to play around 70 per cent. He played both back and forward, which was also planned. He found good space in the forward line and had some shots on goal, kicking 1.3.

Josh Head
He played pretty well in a defensive role on Eagle Brent Staker, who has been in some really good WAFL form. He won some really important one-on-one contests and used the ball quite well.

Daniel Gilmore
He played very well for Souths finishing with 37 disposals. He used the ball well and played most of the game on the wing. He's just really keen to play well for South Fremantle. They've got a lot to look forward to, so he's just focused on playing well for Souths and hoping for an opportunity in the last two weeks.

Scott Thornton
A reasonable game from Scott, a little bit better than the week before. He started forward and found it quite hard to get into the game, but he went into defence and was a bit better down there. He played mainly on East Fremantle's resting ruckmen, so he was a little bit better in defence and a little bit better overall.

Swan Districts 13.13 (91) drew with Perth 13.13 (91)

Luke Pratt
Luke played on former Eagle Steven Armstrong, who played as a high half-forward, and he played that defensive role quiet well finishing with 11 tackles for Swans. One of the things I addressed with him last week was that he's probably just slipped back a bit in his strengths. So his focus this week was to play to his strengths – show desperation, take marks and tackle – which he did well.   

Michael Walters
He kicked a couple of excellent goals and had three for the game. He hasn't kicked that many for Swans this season, but in the second half of the year Swans have wanted him to get his possessions in attacking positions where he can have more shots. He's definitely got some attacking instincts. He also handballed really well, which is one of his keynotes and he ended up a pretty good contributor for Swans with 15 possessions.

East Perth 12.17 (89) d West Perth 11.7 (73)

Zac Clarke
He was probably beaten by Eagle Mark Seaby, but he played nearly exclusively in the ruck with a couple of breaks. Seaby was able to get more of the ball around the ground than Zac, who finished with 13 possessions. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but there's plenty we can learn from it.

Hamish Shepheard
He played quite well up forward predominantly with a brief spell in the ruck for East Perth, so it was bit of a change in roles for Hamish. He got himself in the right positions as a forward and took a couple of good marks. Two of his shots in the last quarter hit the post, so he could have easily finished with better figures than 1.4. It was good to see him playing forward; we're trying to develop him as a forward more than anything else.

Adam Campbell
It was just reasonable game from Adam with 12 possessions, five marks and 0.1. He played a bit of ruck and a bit forward, but we're looking for some improvement in him over the next couple of weeks. I think the effort's okay, he's probably just not reading the play as well as he has in the past. He's not attracting the ball as much, so we're trying to generate some things with West Perth to allow him to finish the year off well.