Fremantle’s Josh Treacy is one of the most exciting young key forwards in the competition. Photo: AFL MEDIA

FREMANTLE
2024 record: 12 wins, 10 losses, 1 draw (10th)

THE INS
Shai Bolton (Richmond), Quinton Narkle (Port Adelaide), Murphy Reid (Sandringham Dragons), Charlie Nicholls (Central District), Jaren Carr (South Fremantle), Aiden Riddle (Claremont), Isaiah Dudley (Central District)

THE OUTS
Matt Taberner (delisted), Josh Corbett (retired), Ethan Hughes (delisted), Tom Emmett (delisted), Max Knobel (delisted – Gold Coast), Sebit Kuek (delisted), Conrad Williams (delisted), Ethan Stanley (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
With Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Luke Jackson and Hayden Young in their early-to-mid-20s, the key planks of Fremantle’s midfield are set for the next decade, giving the Dockers a good opportunity to achieve some success in the near future. That quartet, with the assistance of veteran Nat Fyfe, ensured that Fremantle was the No.1 team for clearances and centre clearances last year, while defenders Luke Ryan and Jordan Clark also helped them boost the Dockers to fourth in both disposals and contested possessions. When Sean Darcy is up and running, he is capable of being one of the most damaging ruckmen in the AFL, and now with boom recruit Shai Bolton, who can seamlessly split his time between attack and midfield, in the mix, Fremantle’s potency on the ball will be further enhanced. The Dockers are also blessed with one of the league’s best key defensive combinations in Alex Pearce, Ryan and Brennan Cox, who, in tandem with the on-ball brigade, catapulted Fremantle to the fourth-best defence in the AFL in 2024. It looks like it’s all coming together up forward for Justin Longmuir’s side as well with young key position duo Josh Treacy and Jye Amiss combining for 81 goals last year to lead their club’s goalkicking. With the likes of Bolton, Michael Frederick, Sam Switkowski and Michael Walters buzzing around at their feet, and Jackson pinch-hitting at times, Fremantle look set to prove a handful in attack on a regular basis this year. Treacy and Amiss were also the main reasons why the Dockers were fourth for marks inside 50 despite only being ninth for forward entries. Other emerging players such as Brandon Walker, Josh Draper, Matthew Johnson, Heath Chapman and Jeremy Sharp provide a lot of optimism for the Dockers’ future prospects. All things being equal, they should be challenging for a finals spot this year.

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THE WEAKNESSES
There is no question that Fremantle will have some mental demons to overcome this year after the way its campaign ended last season. With four rounds to go, the Dockers were third on the ladder and had all but assured themselves a finals spot. All they had to do was win one more game to guarantee a top-eight spot. Yet, in one of the most dramatic late-season capitulations suffered by any team in recent history, Freo were beaten by Essendon, Geelong, GWS and Port Adelaide by an average of just 10 points to drop out of the top eight after the very last game of the home-and-away season. Their defeat to the Power in Perth in the final round was excruciating, because their finals equation was still very simple: win and they’re in. However, the most gut-wrenching result was their one-point loss to the bottom-10 Bombers after giving up a 25-point lead in the final quarter. But perhaps missing the finals was a blessing in disguise for the Dockers, because it potentially would’ve papered over quite a few cracks which may not have been addressed over the summer had they qualified. The most glaring deficiency is that they had the 10th-best attack in the league, and a key reason for that is that they don’t get it inside 50 enough. However, despite the limited supply, Freo were still fifth for goals per inside 50 and seventh for scores per forward entry. With Treacy and Amiss champing at the bit in attack, imagine how many more wins Fremantle would register if it manages to pump the ball up forward more than it currently does? The Dockers’ pressure also needs to improve as they ranked 10th for tackles and third-last for tackles inside 50 in 2024. But perhaps most alarming is that they were the second-worst team for turnovers, so they need to seriously clean up their skill level this year to challenge for the finals. The Jackson-Darcy ruck combo would be keen to lift their team up from 12th in hitouts, and despite the best efforts of Treacy, Jackson and Amiss, the Dockers were in the bottom four for contested marks, so that’s an area that would undoubtedly have been a focus during the pre-season. Fremantle will be hoping for a cleaner run for key trio Cox (14 games), Darcy (11) and Pearce (nine) who all missed big chunks of footy last year due to injury.

ONE TO WATCH
Treacy exploded last year to produce a career-best season that saw him boot a club-leading 45 goals. At just 22, the strong-marking forward has the potential to become one of the most damaging attacking weapons in the years to come, and 60 goals isn’t out of the question this season.

UNDER THE PUMP
The moment of truth has arrived for Neil Erasmus. The former No.10 pick has struggled for regular senior footy, managing just 23 games in his first three seasons, and only four last year. It’s a hard midfield to break into, granted, but if he fails to do so in the final year of his contract, he may find himself on the scrapheap come the end of the season.

BEST 23
B: Heath Chapman, Alex Pearce, Brennan Cox
HB: Jordan Clark, Luke Ryan, James Aish
C: Matthew Johnson, Andrew Brayshaw, Jeremy Sharp
HF: Shai Bolton, Josh Treacy, Sam Switkowski
F: Sam Sturt, Jye Amiss, Michael Frederick
R: Luke Jackson, Caleb Serong, Hayden Young
Inter: Nat Fyfe, Sean Darcy, Michael Walters, Brandon Walker, Josh Draper
Emerg: Jaeger O’Meara, Bailey Banfield, Nathan O’Driscoll

Jaeger O’Meara and Bailey Banfield might feel aggrieved at being relegated to the emergencies after playing a lot of footy last year but that’s a great sign for the depth that the team has. Every side in the league craves selection headaches and Longmuir could be presented with a quite few throughout the season. Corey Wagner is another who is stiff to miss out on the 26 entirely, and while Nathan O’Driscoll is on the outskirts of the best side for now, the talented wingman has the potential to become a regular in the senior line-up.

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