Fremantle
Coach – Justin Longmuir
2025 –
Points For – 9th
Points Against – 7th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
1 – Caleb Serong
2 – Andrew Brayshaw
3 – Josh Treacy
4 – Luke Jackson
5 – Jordan Clark
2025 Rising Star Noms
Murphy Reid (Rnd 6)
Ins – Leon Kickett, Ryda Luke, Judd McVee, Mason Cox, Tobyn Murray, Adam Sweid, Toby Whan
Outs – James Aish, Will Brodie, Jack DeLean, Nat Fyfe, Odin Jones, Quinton Narkle, Liam Reidy, Michael Walkters
My Prediction
Fremantle had a very good year last year. They have a lot of talent on their list and this should be a year they look to push harder towards the top four. They recruited unusually with picking up Maxon Cox, I presume to list the WAFL ratings but also added McVee to just tighten up their backline. Depth looks less of a question than previous years, on paper they look ready.
The backline is solid, fitness will be the key with Pearce needing to stay on the track, they also have Cox at half back. Ryan, Clark and McVee are all good users of the ball and will allow them to improve how they transition the ball.
The midfield needs more Hayden Young than they got last season. Putting him in the middle with Brayshaw and Serong is an incredible top three. Talk about Erasmus finally turning the corner seem early but he showed a bit last season. Reid, Wagner, Frederick and Bolton moving through the middle gives them a different look as well. The interest will be what they do with Luke Jackson with plenty of talk he may play as an inside mid which considering the new ruck rules seems incredibly stupid and clunky. Why you wouldn’t let him ruck and then turn into a midfielder is beyond me.
The forward line was overhyped last year courtesy of Essendon reject, Paddy Voss who had an outstanding season. He brings a great level of energy and made the absolute most of his opportunity. Not sure how much upside from here but they would take what he produced last year again this season. Throw in Treacy and maybe Amiss or a resting ruckman and Freo have finally built a decent group of marking forwards. The smalls are handy as well with Switkowski and Reid, not to mention Bolton who should be more settled this year.
The rucks are curious. Darcy has apparently slimmed down (I presume in the same way Mumford would occasionally slim down) to give him greater mobility. Jackson is a gun and they have recruited Mason Cox who is funny and strangely effective. Curiousity will be in how they set up and how they use them. The coach is uninspiring and a little boring but also seemed to get the job done last season. He had one foot out the door but in the second half of the season they looked like a good cohesive unit and that is all you can do as a coach.
It is easy to forget that they have a young list (at least easy if you turn the sound off your TV so you don’t have the commentators mentioning it three times a quarter). Progression with a young list isn’t always linear. That being said, they need to spend a lot of the year challenging for the top four even if they don’t make it. I think 3-6 needs to be their landing spot.
