Midfielder Will Brodie’s return to the Fremantle line-up in round 5 as a tactical sub proved to pay off as the Club pulled off a gutsy 10-point over the Suns on Friday night.
Brodie was flown to Adelaide on Monday this week to join the playing squad after a 37-disposal game for Peel Thunder in the WAFL.
The midfielder was named as a sub but was activated early in the second quarter after Sam Switkowski had a lower leg complaint.
Once inserted into the game, Brodie got back to his 2022 form against his former side with 16 disposals, seven of which were contested, six clearances and two impactful moments where he set up crucial goals for Andy Brayshaw and Luke Jackson in his 60 minutes on the field.
Senior coach Justin Longmuir praised his setup for Andy Brayshaw’s goal on the run in the third quarter.
“He had some really good moments,” Longmuir said.
“He had a great contested ball where he took the tackle and got almost split in half at half forward and managed to show the composure to get his hands away.
“That was a big play."
Fremantle forward Jye Amiss was on the receiving end of some free-flowing ball movement in the win due to the efforts of Brodie in the midfield.
Amiss kicked three goals up forward, one of which was a clutch set shot from a tight angle on the boundary with six minutes to play in the final term.
The goal was set up for Amiss after a relentless Brodie saved the ball from going over the boundary line on the half-forward flank, which resulted in a forward 50 entry from Hayden Young to Amiss in the pocket.
“He is amazing,” Amiss said.
“That is what Wiz does. He is a ball hunter, he gets the ball, gets it rolling forward and he is also so hard at it. It was good to get him into the game early.”
Longmuir was clear after Brodie was dropped that he need to go back and work on getting his contested ball back and said Brodie is still a big part of our future.
“Just because someone gets dropped doesn’t mean they’re not a big part of our plans,” Longmuir said.
Fremantle will now take on the Western Bulldogs in round 6 for the Len Hall Tribute Game next Friday 14 April at Optus Stadium.
