Fremantle take on Sydney on Saturday night at the SCG.

Here’s some of the key stats and stories heading into the game.

Ladder
Sydney 5-3, 106.6% (7th)
Fremantle 4-4, 94.3% (12th) 

Something’s gotta give
Heading into round nine, Fremantle are yet to win interstate while Sydney are yet to beat an interstate side at home.
Barring a draw, like the one that happened between these two sides at the SCG in 2013, one of these streaks is set to be broken.
With the aim of improving Freo’s efforts on the road, David Mundy said Fremantle are placing a high importance on maintaining a professional mindset.
“We’re here almost like a business trip, to get the four points and play really well,” Mundy said.
“We understand our form on the road has been quite poor this year so we’re looking to rectify that."

Pearce’s biggest test
Alex Pearce has played on the likes of Josh J. Kennedy, Joe Daniher, Jeremy Cameron and Charlie Dixon – yet the key defender has conceded just 1.6 goals per game this season.
Pearce’s biggest test is yet to come. After Lance Franklin was ruled out earlier in the week due to injury, Sydney sprung a selection surprise with his inclusion.
Franklin has averaged 3.6 goals per game this season, and based on Pearce’s comments on Tuesday, the 200cm key defender will be looking forward to the challenge.
"From a bit of a selfish point-of-view, I would love to play on ‘Buddy’," Pearce said.

Rookie battle
If there was an award for rookie recruit of the year, Freo tagger Bailey Banfield would have been a shoe-in heading into round eight – until Sydney rookie Ben Ronke launched himself onto the scene with a seven-goal performance against Hawthorn.
The question is, who will Banfield go to against Sydney? Josh P. Kennedy, who is playing his 200th game, is a likely option, as is Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery, who returns after three weeks out with a groin injury.

Can Fyfe be stopped?
If the AFL coaches are to be believed, Fyfe has been far and away the standout player of the season so far – leading the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award by eight votes after eight rounds.
One reason Fyfe stretched his lead in round eight was due to a quiet Tom Mitchell performance against Sydney. Hawthorn’s Mitchell is currently fourth in the AFLCA voting and has averaged 34 disposals per game this season.
Against the Swans, he was restricted to 20 touches with Sydney's George Hewett keeping him quiet.
At 83kg, Hewett was a perfect match for the 84kg Mitchell, however he might have his work cut out for him if he plays a similar role on Fyfe, who weighs in at 92kg.

Clearance kings
Fremantle's star-studded engineroom will be up against it with the Swans leading the league in clearances this season.
Sydney are averaging 40.8 clearances per game this year compared to Fremantle’s 36.8.
Saturday’s game will feature four of the top-11 clearances players in the competition. Fyfe (2nd) leads the way with 8.9 clearances per game, ahead of Kennedy (6th, 7.1 per game), Lachie Neale (9th, 6.5 per game) and Parker (11th, 6.1 per game).

Going hard
Sydney have been successful when the ball is in dispute, sitting second for hard ball gets with 52.5 per game while Fremantle are 16th with 42.5 per game.
Kennedy leads the Swans with an average of 6.1 hard ball gets per game while Nat Fyfe leads Freo with 5.5 per game.

Final Teams