Young forward Jye Amiss looms as the centrepiece of the Dockers’ attack for the next decade. Photo: Jackson Flindell

FREMANTLE
2023 record: 10 wins, 13 losses (14th)

THE INS
Oscar McDonald (Williamstown), Jeremy Sharp (Gold Coast), Cooper Simpson (Dandenong Stingrays), Ollie Murphy (Sandringham Dragons), Jack Delean (South Adelaide), Odin Jones (West Perth)

THE OUTS
Lachie Schultz (Collingwood), Liam Henry (St Kilda), Nathan Wilson (delisted), Travis Colyer (delisted), Joel Hamling (Sydney), Roy Benning (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
The Dockers have two of the best young midfielders in the AFL at their disposal in All-Australian duo Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw, and if dual Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe can get back to full fitness and availability, Fremantle’s on-ball unit could be a force to be reckoned with – especially with star rucks Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy feeding the ball to them. Jackson took a while to find his feet in his first year at the Dockers, but finished 2023 strongly and reminded everyone why they were so keen to recruit the premiership player. Up forward they have unearthed a gem in Jye Amiss, who topped the club’s goalkicking with 41 in just his second season, and veteran small forward Michael Walters showed there was still life left in the old legs yet, producing his best season in many years with 33 goals. On paper, Fremantle’s defensive stocks are flush with key trio Luke Ryan, Alex Pearce and Brennan Cox, supported by Hayden Young, Jordan Clark, James Aish, Heath Chapman, Brandon Walker and Ethan Hughes. They also have a bunch of exciting emerging players such as Michael Frederick, Matthew Johnson, Nathan O’Driscoll and Tom Emmett who could the hold the key to the Dockers climbing back up the ladder.

THE WEAKNESSES
Fremantle took a big step backwards last year after such an impressive 2022 campaign that saw them make it to the semi-finals. Incredibly, the jungle drums from out west are already beating regarding fifth-year coach Justin Longmuir’s future. If Longmuir and the Dockers want to ensure that 2023 was just a blip on what they hope to be an upward trend, they have a lot of work to do. Getting the ball isn’t an issue for Fremantle – they ranked sixth and seventh for disposals and marks respectively last year – but it’s what they do with it which is their main concern. They just weren’t creative enough when in possession last year, and that has to change if they are any hope of returning to the finals this season. Alarmingly, they ranked 14th for offence and 11th for defence in 2023 – a stunning drop-off from 2022 when they had the second-best points against in the AFL. And when you look at how strong they look down back on paper, as previously mentioned, it makes it all the more surprising. But you’re only as good as your midfield and last season the Dockers came in 15th for contested possessions, 11th for clearances and 11th for inside 50s – those stats would make it hard for any backline. One of the biggest concerns for the Dockers is their midfield depth. After their top end of Serong, Brayshaw, Fyfe and Jaeger O’Meara, they fall away dramatically. But they’ve only had Fyfe play 16 games in the past two seasons, so if he can stay healthy for most of 2024, Longmuir will be hoping he can help improve those damning midfield rankings. The Dockers have also lost a pair of quality players in Schultz and Henry who were traded to Collingwood and St Kilda respectively. They’ll be looking to the likes of Frederick, Sam Switkowski and Emmett to help fill the void left by Schultz, while Johnson and O’Driscoll look like the obvious candidates to cover Henry’s departure on the wing. It will also be fascinating to see how Jackson and Darcy coexist. The pair had some teething problems playing in the same team, before Jackson played some outstanding footy in the last six weeks while Darcy was injured. But both men are now on very long-term contracts, so Freo are clearly all in on making it work.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

ONE TO WATCH
After an outstanding sophomore season, Amiss looms as a breakout star in 2024. In a bottom-five team, playing as a 19-year-old for most of the season, Amiss put paid to the widely-held belief that it takes young key position players longer to develop. The tall forward booted 41 majors, despite sub-standard supply to the forward 50, including three hauls of four. With the prospect of more support from Matthew Taberner, who missed most of last year due to a back injury, Amiss could top 50 goals and stamp himself as one of the best young forwards in the competition.

UNDER THE PUMP
Season 2024 looms as make or break for Bailey Banfield. The talented forward has shown flashes of his potential in his 75-game career, but too often finds himself on the fringes of the side. Last year he was dropped twice, and was the starting sub on another occasion. In 2022, he was the starting sub no fewer than 10 times. While injury has also played its part in working against Banfield, he enters the final year of his contract in limbo, and if he can’t put it all together in his seventh season, the writing could be on the wall for him.

BEST 22
B: Luke Ryan, Alex Pearce, James Aish
HB: Hayden Young, Brennan Cox, Jordan Clark
C: Matthew Johnson, Nat Fyfe, Nathan O’Driscoll
HF: Michael Frederick, Josh Treacy, Sam Switkowski
F: Michael Walters, Jye Amiss, Matt Taberner
R: Luke Jackson, Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong
Inter: Sean Darcy, Jaeger O’Meara, Heath Chapman, Brandon Walker
Emerg: Ethan Hughes, Neil Erasmus, Sam Sturt, Bailey Banfield

After being trialled as a forward last year, with underwhelming results, Fyfe has been training in the midfield all pre-season, so expect him to return to his natural habitat this year. The returns of Taberner and Chapman, after injury ruined their seasons last year, will be most welcome too. Emmett has been squeezed out of the 26 for now, but based on how well he played in his first two games in Rounds 23 and 24 last year, expect him to see some game time pretty early in the year.

*all team stat rankings mentioned are based on differentials, not totals (apart from overall offence and defence).