Freo flag not tied to veterans
Fremantle's premiership window is still wide open and not conditional on the future of veteran trio Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands and Luke McPharlin, according to gun midfielder David Mundy.
The Dockers' hopes of claiming a maiden premiership under coach Ross Lyon have been called into question in recent months, with the popular view being if it doesn't happen next year, it won't happen any time soon.
Pavlich, McPharlin and Sandilands are all in their 30s and come out of contract at the end of next season.
_The Weekend West _understands Sandilands is considering extending his contract for another year, but the future of the other pair is not as clear.
Speaking as the players prepared to leave for the Christmas break, Mundy said he strongly disagreed with the suggestion the club's premiership chances were coming to an end.
"Certainly not," he said.
"They've been great players for the club and have been here for a long time, obviously, but we don't think once they go we're going to fall off the perch.
"We've got some really good young guys coming in filling some shoes and we've seen in the last two years without Luke and Pav for extended periods, and Aaron, we've had guys come in and play their role and really fill the breach."
The Dockers finished their year with a gruelling 2½-hour training session at a scorching Fremantle Oval yesterday.
Nat Fyfe (shoulder), Michael Johnson (back), Zac Clarke (knee) and Anthony Morabito (knee) remained on the sidelines, while Colin Sylvia and Ryan Crowley were not spotted.
Michael Walters spent the session in the gym.
Mundy said the final session of the year was intense, but no different to the level the players had trained at since returning last month.
"Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays this year have been really tough," he said. "That was an extremely hard session, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.
"They're always hard and you're always looking for improvement, trying to get better and get the most out of yourself."
Mundy said part of the program had been devoted to learning a new game plan, which he explained as an evolution of last year's desire to be more attacking.
"The game never stays the same," he said. "Next year is not going to be the same as it was this year, so we're trying to get that step ahead of the competition."
"They've been great players … but we don't think once they go we're going to fall off the perch."" *David Mundy *
