,Clarke on track to line up
Fremantle ruckman Zac Clarke is rapidly firming to play in tomorrow’s western derby after training yesterday before being named in the club’s 22.
The presence of Clarke, who tweaked an ankle and knee late in last Sunday’s 44-point win against Geelong at Simonds Stadium, takes on added significance in this derby as the Dockers attempt to stretch an Eagles defence compromised by the loss of power defenders Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown for the season because of serious knee injuries.
Their losses hastened the return to the AFL of Will Schofield last week after a pre-season interrupted by an ankle problem, while Elliot Yeo has played the first two games as a tall defender despite Adam Simpson’s wish to try him as a midfielder.
Final selection followed a reasonably predictable line yesterday as both clubs pruned their squads of 25 by three.
Ruckman Jack Hannath, the versatile Tendai Mzungu and forward Max Duffy were excluded for Fremantle while Jamie Bennell, Brant Colledge and Fraser Mcinnes were the players left out at West Coast.
The Dockers brought Hayden Crozier into their line-up to replace the suspended Hayden Ballantyne. West Coast opted for experience, with Josh Hill and Sam Butler included for the injured Simon Tunbridge and the omitted Bennell.
Both clubs are expected to hold at least one and possibly two emergencies out of today’s WAFL “derby” between East Perth and Peel Thunder.
But Fremantle football manager Chris Bond expressed quiet confidence that Clarke would be ready to face the Eagles.
“He has trained today. We will still obviously monitor him but we are really confident that he will be able to perform,” he said.
“He has got through training really well. We always hold at least one over if not two but we haven’t finalised that as yet.
“We might not even do that until tomorrow until we see how everyone wakes up.” Bond said it was a close selection decision between Crozier and Mzungu in particular.
“We think we have got a couple of players who are vying for positions and Croz has got his opportunity,” he said.
“At the end of the day he has got a good opportunity to perform and we expect that he will take it.”
Crozier shone in early intraclub matches for Fremantle before an ankle injury interrupted his run into the season and he narrowly missed selection in Fremantle’s team for round one against Port Adelaide. He and Mzungu travelled as emergencies to Geelong last weekend.
The struggles of Crozier and Mzungu to fight their way into the team shows how healthy the Dockers are at the moment.
Mzungu has splayed 86 games since his debut in 2011 and had missed just one game since Ross Lyon’s arrival prior to this season. Crozier fought his way into Fremantle’s team for the final six games of last season, including two finals.
“Both were really strong candidates for this game,” Bond said.
“There will still be opportunities for ‘Muzz’ to get back in and when he does we know how important he can be to us.”
Bond said the strong competition for spots in Fremantle’s 22 was a good thing for the club.
“It is what all teams crave and it is healthy,” he said. “We have got some really good people that have missed out and we know they will work their hardest and do everything they can to get back into the team. That holds us in really good condition.”
