Fremantle's midfield is ready to get better again in 2023 and weather the losses of retired champion David Mundy and redeployed forward Nat Fyfe, according to coach Justin Longmuir.
The addition of Jaeger O'Meara during last year's Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period has turned into one of the major positives of Freo's' pre-season, with the former Hawthorn and Gold Coast onballer shining as an inside midfielder.
They are also trying to "strike a balance" with James Aish, who looks likely to split his time between the wing and an inside midfield role after some influential performances onball last season.
While Fyfe's midfield impact last season was limited by injury, there is a significant hole left by Mundy, who ranked No.3 at Fremantle for clearances (4.8), centre clearances (1.7) and contested possessions (9.1) last year.
The natural improvement of young stars Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong, however, and a valuable chemistry in the group that has already been evident in pre-season games should ensure the midfield improves despite the absence of the club's champion players.
"Not because we lost those guys (Mundy and Fyfe but) because of the development of our younger players," Longmuir told AFL.com.au when asked if the midfield would improve this season.
"I think our younger developing mids have taken their game to a new level and worked on their cohesion and contest work and transition, so I'm hoping we'll take a step forward through there.
"Then the addition of Luke Jackson gives us a real diversity in the ruck.
"Him and Sean (Darcy) are quite different with the way they go about it and bring a different skill set, which hopefully makes them a really strong ruck tandem across the season."
Fremantle have consistently rotated star duo Brayshaw and Serong alongside O'Meara and Will Brodie this pre-season as their preferred centre bounce midfielders, with Aish also getting a taste.
Their connection as a group and ability to link up out of stoppages through handball chains was a feature of Thursday's impressive win against Port Adelaide, with those four players combining for 58 handball receives.
Brodie (36 disposals and nine clearances), Brayshaw (36 and three) and Serong (32 and eight) all starred, while O'Meara rallied after a quieter start to have 18 of his 22 disposals in the second half.
Small forwards Sam Switkowski and Lachie Schultz have also trained for midfield roles more prominently this pre-season, giving Longmuir plenty of options.
"'Shooter' (Schultz) is keeping a running tally of how many centre bounces he attends and how many centre bounces he's won," Longmuir said.
"He's going at about 100 per cent at the moment, so he's putting pressure on me to play him there more often.
"Him and Switta, it's good for their development. They've been able to embed their roles as small forwards.
"To give them another opportunity to grow into a different area and give them a taste of a different area is good for their development ... (and) we know we've always got it up our sleeve."
While the Dockers lost Blake Acres to Carlton on one wing, there are replacements lining up.
Ethan Hughes and Liam Henry have impressed, bringing defensive and offensive attributes to the role respectively and allowing Aish more time as an inside midfielder.
"It's something we did a bit last year, giving him opportunity to go onball," Longmuir said of Aish, who most notably played as an inside midfielder against Melbourne in rounds 11 and 20, shutting down Demons star Clayton Oliver in the first leg when he switched to a run-with role after half time.
"He's a bit of a 'Mr Fix It' for us. Plug him in and let him play and he tends to play the role really well. He's the sort of guy who will do whatever the team needs.
"I probably got him here (from Collingwood), to be honest, to be a half-back. But we've been able to put him on the wing, onball, he's done some run-with roles for us and quietened players when they get off the chain.
"It's handy to have that flexibility in the team as a coach, and players in the team who can put their own game aside and do whatever the team needs.
"We'll continue to see what it looks like for him in the midfield and continue to give him some opportunity."
When it comes to the Dockers' game style in 2023, they are making minor refinements defensively while searching for more consistency with its ball movement and scoring options.
"A lot was made of our scoring last year. (But) sit back in the cold, hard light of day and reflect on the season and I think there was 10 or 11 times we scored over 90 points, whereas it was four times the year before," Longmuir said.
"So we made some good steps forward, but we need to be more consistent with that and get our bottom end closer to our top end when it comes to being able to move the ball.
"The quicker we can react to turnovers, both ways, usually the more efficient you are in offence and defence.
"We've been working on our intent to get the ball moving as much as anything else."
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