The Fremantle Dockers put a number of last year’s Grand Final side on show for an intra-club practice match on Tuesday evening and a bunch of the club’s veterans and star players looked to be in excellent condition heading into next week’s NAB Challenge.
Among the standouts were a 2.2 effort in front of goal from captain Matthew Pavlich and impressive performances from Michael Walters, Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy, Nat Fyfe and Michael Johnson.
Pavlich played on despite copping a knee to the face from All-Australian defender Luke McPharlin in the opening quarter. Walters looked in fantastic form after a breakout 2013 season while youngsters Hayden Crozier and Lachie Neale stated their claim for a spot team’s best 22 for round 1 AFL season opener against Collingwood at Etihad Stadium on March 14.
The intra-club match also provided the Dockers with an opportunity to have a closer look at off-season recruits Colin Sylvia and Scott Gumbleton, however neither were able to make a great impact in the game.
Sylvia worked hard but appeared to be still making his way toward full match fitness while Gumbleton had his moments in the forward line, also doing a bit of ruck work at that end of the ground.
“Colin had a couple of small set-backs during the pre-season so he’s into his second full week of training essentially,” assistant coach Mark Stone told Fremantlefc.com.au.
“So we managed him a little bit with his positioning and where he played but we were really pleased with him.
“Scotty as well. His team was the more dominant team and the ball as coming down there a lot so he got some opportunities, but yeah, he was really good.”
Disappointing were the performances of fan favourites Hayden Ballantyne and Stephen Hill.
Rookies Thomas Vandeleur and Michael Wood both looked good, however the latter, listed at just 75kg, looks likely to be too small to gain a spot this season. 2012’s No.17 pick Josh Simpson also looked to be a long way off scoring a second game in the seniors.
Among those missing on Tuesday were Nick Suban, Tendai Mzungu, Ryan Crowley, Chris Mayne and Zac Clarke.
Fremantle kick off their NAB Challenge against West Coast on Tuesday, February 18 at Arena Joondalup. The club will also face the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 26 at Etihad Stadium.
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Photo: Paul Kane, Getty Images.
