CLANCEE Pearce has played the majority of his football at half-back, but Fremantle is now assessing the third-year rookie as a forward option after a standout WAFL performance to open the season.

Pearce, who has played 14 games for Fremantle, kicked two goals from his 25 possessions in round one of the state competition, also pulling in 15 marks as a roaming forward for Swan Districts. 

The 20-year-old has enjoyed a strong pre-season and assistant coach Simon Lloyd said a highlight of his game was his ability to lose his direct opponent across half-forward.  

"The big thing for Clancee has always been transferring how good a player he can be at WAFL level up to AFL level," Lloyd said. 

"He has played a large proportion of his football at half-back at WAFL level, and he's gone into the midfield at times, but we're keeping a close eye on him up forward at the moment."

Mobile key position player Hamish Shepheard was the only other Fremantle player in action at the weekend as he continues to build match fitness after an interrupted pre-season. 

Lloyd said the third-year rookie had been monitored closely over summer but impressed for East Perth with his ability to run off his direct opponent.

Fremantle chose not to play key midfielders David Mundy and Stephen Hill in the WAFL to top off their interrupted pre-seasons, instead opting for more controlled match simulation drills.  

"We've been getting a lot of work into those players that haven't had as much game time throughout pre-season," Lloyd said.

Ahead of Fremantle's season opener against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday, Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.
 
East Perth 18.14 (122) d Swan Districts 16.11 (107)

Clancee Pearce
Clancee could have kicked four or five goals in the first half if he'd taken his opportunities and he really helped Swan Districts get back into the game in the second quarter. He took some strong grabs playing as a forward - both high and deep - including one going back with the flight. He used the ball really well, particularly kicking inside 50, with only two of his 19 kicks ineffective. 

Hamish Shepheard
Hamish played key forward and spent a brief period in the ruck, finishing with 10 handballs. A real highlight for the development coaches was a passage of play where he chased down Graham Jetta and tackled him. He was constantly leading and taking his opponent out of the forward 50m, so there were some good passages from Hamish and he should look at building on that this week.