There will be no holding back at Fremantle with coach Ross Lyon hosing down suggestions that veterans Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin and Aaron Sandilands will be nursed through the year.
Fremantle will approach the opening half of the season at full throttle and will only consider resting the experienced trio later in the year, depending on circumstances.
Skipper Pavlich played 22 of 24 possible games last year, while Sandilands only missed one game. McPharlin, who many at the Freo Dockers feared would retire at the end of last season, managed just 13 games because of a succession of knee, calf and quadriceps injuries.
Pavlich and McPharlin both turned 33 in December, while Sandilands recently turned 32.
"In the first half of the year they'll play all the games," Lyon told AFL.com.au.
"Going forward, if we're in good shape, there are opportunities to manage them, especially Luke who has struggled in the back half of seasons.
"In the second half of the year we might be in poor shape. We don't want to be, but it's possible so then we would look at what do we do from there. If we're not in good shape, we might rest them anyway and give the younger players opportunities for the future.
"Aaron never wants to miss. The same with 'Pav'."
Fremantle faces a brutal start to the season, starting with preliminary finalist Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium, followed by Geelong at Simonds Stadium, West Coast as the away team in a derby clash, and then the Sydney Swans, also at Patersons Stadium.
The good news is that McPharlin is flying, having recently smashed a personal best during a 3km time trial. Lyon regularly raves about his leadership and freely admits he desperately needs him up and about early on, particularly for the round two clash at Geelong, which could have Tom Hawkins, Mitch Clark and Rhys Stanley all up and about in its forward 50.
In further good news for Fremantle's back half is that Michael Johnson is on track to play in the NAB Challenge. The key defender was sadly missed during the finals due to a back injury.
"He's had some significant injuries and he copped a big knee in the back," Lyon said. "But he's an important player for us, he's back in the group and he'll play in the NAB Challenge barring significant setbacks."
Emerging big men Matt Taberner and Michael Apeness will also feature prominently in the NAB Challenge.
Taberner played nine games last season including the last five and earned a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination while Apeness, at 200cm, shapes as a possible replacement for Sandilands down the track and played two games on debut for Freo in 2014.
Lyon said a feature of the NAB Challenge for Fremantle would likely be whether the pair could work with Pavlich in what would be a tall and imposing forward line.
"They different sorts of players," he said.
"They both have great endurance. Taberner is less a contested mark but he has really blossomed over summer. He played two finals last year and because they’re doing the work we can stick with them and continue to play them.
"Matt can play at the level more than Michael but we’d hope that Michael can play a number of games for us. And he’ll have opposition defenders looking around because he is fierce."
