Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir has outlined the key areas his side will look to nullify against a new-look Demons side on Saturday.
Speaking at his Thursday morning media conference, Longmuir explained that one of the challenges will be restricting Melbourne’s forward-50 pressure, after the Dees ranked as number one for retaining the ball inside the arc in their win over the Saints.
“They've changed their team up quite a bit, some new faces, a bit of youth,” Longmuir said.
“The backline looks different to what we’ve faced in the past as well.
“So yeah, you expect that the new coach, who obviously got off to a really good start across all three lines on the weekend, means we are under no illusions that we’ve got our work cut out for us this week.
“We want to challenge them in different phases of the game.
“We’ve got some plans in place, but we want to make sure we challenge them going back the other way as well.”
Speaking on the role of minimising the impact of Melbourne dynamo Kysaiah Pickett, Longmuir said there’s a number of options to discuss.
He explained it wasn’t directly dependent on one single match-up, rather, restricting Melbourne’s ball movement that could have a flow-on effect.
“The tricky part is if you have two players looking after him, and he's getting that transition piece right post-centre bounce or post-stoppage, then you need the athletic traits to be able to keep up with him and stop him,” Longmuir said.
“We feel like we've got good options.
“Clearly, last time we played, he had an impact, but we don't think we helped the players that played on him.
“Up the ground, the ball moved too quickly and he's pretty dangerous on anyone.”
Fremantle’s team of 23 will be announced on fremantlefc.com.au at 3:20pm WST this afternoon.
Fremantle host Melbourne on Saturday 21 March at Optus Stadium, with the match commencing at 4.35pm WST. It will be Fremantle’s first home game of the season.
Fans are urged to arrive early as it’s the first time they will be required to adhere to Optus Stadium’s new SafeTix system to enter the venue.
The clash will be the second of Fremantle’s first three games to be shown on a delayed free-to-air broadcast.
