Anything and Everything Fremantle
Archive for March, 2012
Morabito’s long wait over
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Fremantle midfielder Anthony Morabito is confident he can have an impact at AFL level this season as he prepares to play his first game in 18 months.
Morabito, who underwent a knee reconstruction in December 2010 and has suffered four setbacks in his rehabilitation, will make his return to football with the Peel Thunder reserves on Saturday.
The No.4 pick from the 2009 NAB AFL Draft said he was excited as he nears the end of a long rehabilitation, and he expected to spend a number of weeks in the WAFL finding his feet.
However, the powerful wingman was confident he could he could recapture the form that saw him play 23 games in his debut season of 2010, with his speed and agility returning.
“I’d like to think that I’ve run very good volumes, so when I get a fair bit of confidence and change of direction and all that, I’d like to think at the back end of the year I’d be able to have a fair impact,” Morabito said on Tuesday.
Woodside Freo Season Launch
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Ross Lyon and Matthew Pavlich received a warm welcome at Woodside’s Freo Season Launch at the Woodside Building in the city today.
Joined by Woodside CEO Peter Coleman, Lyon and Pavlich addressed the company’s staff, who took a break from their duties to catch a glimpse of the Freo coach and captain.
Coleman said his company was proud to be associated with the Fremantle Dockers, whose values he said fit in well with Woodside’s.
“It’s a strong partnership,” he said.
“We look at the professionalism of the club, the way they run their business, and we can learn lots of things from that.”
The Woodside staff also bought themselves some new Freo merchandise for the upcoming season and had Lyon and Pavlich sign their new purchases.
Hill, Fyfe have Pendles potential
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has challenged young midfielders Stephen Hill and Nat Fyfe to become elite players this season as the duo prepares to square off against Geelong’s premiership onballers on Saturday night.
While Aaron Sandilands has declared himself a certain starter against the Cats at Patersons Stadium, doubts remain over the availability of clearance specialists David Mundy (ankle) and Michael Barlow (foot).
Fyfe, 20, and Hill, 21, have shouldered the bulk of Fremantle’s midfield workload this pre-season, along with Greg Broughton and Hayden Ballantyne, and they will be key players against the reigning premiers on Saturday night.
Lyon breathes new life into Freo
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
Draw assessment
Ten interstate trips aside, Fremantle’s draw is very favourable. West Coast is the only top-eight team from last season that Ross Lyon’s men face twice, but they get just one chance against each of Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast. Adding to the burden of a heavy travel schedule will be five six-day breaks, with four of those coming ahead of road trips.
Pivotal match
Fremantle went 0-6 in Melbourne last season, losing to Richmond, Hawthorn, Melbourne, St Kilda, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. It makes the team’s round-four match against the Saints crucial as Lyon seeks to reverse that trend. There will also be a big Friday night build-up for Fremantle to counter as the former St Kilda boss faces his old club for the first time.
Fringe Docker in good shape to face premiers
012 years
East Perth coach Tony Micale says young Fremantle defender Dylan Roberton is more than ready to play against Geelong in round one on Saturday if he is selected.
Micale was commenting after Roberton’s superb effort as a key defender in East Perth’s narrow loss to Claremont on Saturday.
Still just 20, Roberton had 23 possessions and played strongly both deep in defence and giving rebound streaming forward, blank-eting young West Coast forwards Jeremy McGovern and Anton Hamp in the process.
The performance came after a badly interrupted pre-season when Roberton was barely seen on the track because of an ankle injury.
Sandilands raring to go for Dockers
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
By SportsNewsFirst
Giant Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands has declared he is fully fit and raring to go for the Dockers’ season opener against Geelong on Saturday.
In a chilling warning to rival AFL sides, the imposing big man says he is back to 100 per cent fitness and feeling good heading into the 2012 season.
Sandilands, 29, managed just 13 appearances last year and missed a large chunk of the season due to a debilitating “turf toe” foot injury.
While the towering Docker suffered a slight tear in his calf, which kept him out of the majority of Fremantle’s NAB Cup action, he says he will be right to go in Round 1.
Dockers to delay Morabito comeback
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in News
Anthony Morabito’s long-awaited return from a knee reconstruction is set to remain on hold for another week with the Fremantle youngster unlikely to be released to play for Peel on Saturday.
Morabito’s comeback has taken longer than expected since he injured the knee in December 2010.
A quad injury last month pushed his return date back and he is now likely to return against Perth on Saturday week.
The Dockers will today decide which players should be selected for their WAFL clubs for this weekend, with the rest of the team to either take part in a match simulation session or rest in preparation for round one.
Several Fremantle players have battled injury-interrupted pre-seasons and would benefit from a WAFL match before the start of the AFL season. Garrick Ibbotson played 1 1/2 games during the NAB Cup and yesterday admitted it wasn’t an ideal preparation.
Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe can win Brownlow, says one AFL skipper
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
Scott Pendlebury was voted most likely to win this year’s Brownlow Medal in the AFL’s annual captains’ poll, but at least one skipper believes Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe can do it in just his third season.
Pendlebury received eight of a possible 18 votes, with Lance Franklin (four) and 2009 winner Gary Ablett (two) the other leading contenders.
Star midfielders Fyfe, Daniel Kerr, Sam Mitchell and Joel Selwood were the remaining names to be backed by one captain.
Judd tips Dockers to overpower Cats
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in Miscellaneous
By SportsNewsFirst
Champion Carlton captain Chris Judd has tipped a stunning upset in the first round of the AFL season, declaring a revitalised Fremantle will defeat reigning premiers Geelong in Perth.
Dual-Brownlow medallist Judd’s adventurous pick was backed up by newly-appointed AFLPA president Luke Ball, who also tipped a Dockers upset at Patersons Stadium on Saturday-week.
Classy Collingwood midfielder Ball also believes pre-season competition winners Adelaide will continue on their winning run over the Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium in their Round 1 clash.
Jay VB’s on the attack
012 years
by DockerNow.com
in WAFL
Fremantle is working on developing hard-at-it midfielder Jay van Berlo by adding an attacking edge to the 23-year-old’s game.
Van Berlo, who was Freo’s WAFL player of the week lining up for West Perth in the first round of the competition, has played as a defensive-minded midfielder/forward in recent seasons.
Freo assistant coach Simon Lloyd said the club was eager to see van Berlo improve on the attacking aspects of his game.
“Ross Lyon wants to see Jay play more as an inside mid and on the wing,” he said.
“That’s our focus. We want to get Jay in and around the stoppages, so we’re working on his body positioning and him being able to reposition his opponent.”
Lloyd said the club also wanted to see more run and carry enter van Berlo’s game.
“We’ve spoken about building that as part of his game,” he said.
