It has felt like a long off-season for Michael Walters who can’t wait to get back out in front of the Purple Army at Sunday’s season opener against North Melbourne at Optus Stadium.

The midfield/forward was one of Fremantle’s best in the same fixture in 2018, collecting 27 disposals and kicking two goals to earn two Brownlow votes.

Fremantle trained in their special edition 25-year jumpers on Wednesday and Walters said he was looking forward to seeing a bumper crowd to honour the start of the club’s 25th year in the AFL.

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“It’s the 25-year jumper and I quite like it. It’s a significant milestone for the club,” Walters said.

“There’s been a lot of players who have come and gone so it’s good to represent them with the jumper.

“It will be good to get back around at Optus Stadium with the fans.

“There’s no doubt there will be a big crowd with the unreal purple army fans out there. It will be good to see them coming down and showing their support.”

Walters said he expects a tough contest between two teams looking to see growth and development from their younger players.

“North Melbourne are going to be a really good team this season. They have a lot of young players, as we do, and we’ll need as much support as we can good starting this week,” Walters said.

“A lot of the boys that have grown and they’ve gotten better over the pre-season, so it would be good to see some of them get out there this week and strut their stuff.”