Fremantle forward Lachie Schultz says the playing group is adopting a must-win attitude so they don’t have to rely on other results to secure a place in the top eight.
Freo face three big tests to round out the season, starting with sixth placed Brisbane and seventh placed West Coast at home at Optus Stadium before travelling to face St Kilda in the final round.
Three wins from those three games will mean Freo don’t have to rely on other results to make finals for the first time since 2015.
With Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters on the sidelines, Fremantle will go into these games with only David Mundy and Matt Taberner as players who have Freo finals experience.
James Aish (Collingwood), Travis Colyer (Essendon) and Nathan Wilson (GWS) are the only other players in the squad selected to face Brisbane with finals experience from their time at other clubs.
Schultz said the group want to treat every game like a final to help build the experience of playing high-stakes football.
“(Defeating Richmond) was a great win for the club and it's going to hold us in really good stead in the next three weeks with the fight - we're going to treat every game as if it's an elimination final from here,” Schultz told SEN.
“We're a young group so it's all learning for us. A lot of us haven't actually played in the finals, apart from ‘Tabs’ and guys like that.
“It's all a big learning curve at the moment and it really comes down to staying in the moment and focusing on each week at a time and this week it's Brisbane.”
Schultz said Fremantle won’t get complacent with former Freo Docker and 2020 Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale missing the clash due to illness.
“It's definitely a bonus he's not going to be running around on Sunday but it doesn't really come down to one player,” Schultz said.
“Their midfield is one of the best in the comp, you've still got Jarryd Lyons, Hugh McCluggage and guys like that so to put it onto one player in Lachie is not where we're reviewing.
“We know that once one goes down, the next one's going to stand up.”
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