Senior Coach Justin Longmuir says he won’t be making wholesale changes after Fremantle’s loss to Melbourne and feels there’s reason to believe the playing group can turn their form around.
Fremantle have another high stakes clash this Saturday against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadum, and Longmuir may call on some players who performed well in Peel's 53-point win against East Perth.
After a 38 disposal and three goal performance for Tucker and four goals to Sam Sturt, Longmuir said the pair would come into consideration.
“I don’t want to give selection but (making wholesale changes) is probably not my style. I think players grow confidence from getting backed in and not being on edge all the time, but we need to find the balance between rewarding performances at Peel as well,” Longmuir said.
“We’re looking at players that have put a body of work together…Darcy Tucker has put three best on grounds together and not only has he done that, he’s worked away at a few things in his game that he needed to work on.
“Sam had a really good game on the weekend. I thought his intensity was at a level that we expect and have been looking for. Whether it’s his go this week or not, if he keeps on playing the way he played on the weekend, he’ll get his opportunity.”
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Longmuir conceded that Fremantle’s efforts against Melbourne were sub-par, but felt the team had been in good form prior to that loss.
“We just need to make sure we’re realistic with where our form is at,” Longmuir said.
“Four weeks ago we beat St Kilda at Marvel, we were nine points up three weeks ago in the last quarter against Sydney, we drew at Marvel against Richmond who have trumped that form pretty well on the weekend coming from 40 points down (against Brisbane).
“We played a poor game on the weekend.
“We’re not in the form we’d like to be but we need to make sure we are balanced with the way we frame up where we are at.
“We’ve probably got some players who had interrupted years who aren’t in form they were in earlier in the year and executing their roles as effectively as they were. Clearly we’re not getting the ball into our front half and holding it there as much as we were early in the year.
“We’ve lost our edge a little bit as well with the way we play. I think we were a much harder team to play against earlier in the year. We need to get back to being the hunter.”
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Key forward Matt Taberner’s place in the team isn’t guaranteed after he went goalless against Melbourne.
“We need Tabs back to his best,” Longmuir said.
“We haven’t got a lot of goalkickers on our list who can kick multiple goals and bags of goals. Tabs is one of those guys. I understand everyone’s frustration and the fact they’re seeing his form at the moment.
“We’ll decide later today if he needs to work in his game at WAFL level or AFL. We haven’t made a decision.”
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