Fremantle have confirmed their final team of 23 to take on Gold Coast at Optus Stadium.
As confirmed by the Club on Thursday, ruckman Sean Darcy will make his long-awaited return to AFL football on Sunday at Optus Stadium when Fremantle host the Gold Coast Suns.
Darcy last played in Round 5 when he suffered concussion in the Gather Round win over Collingwood, followed by a calf strain while recovering.
He’s spent the last three weeks in the WAFL building form and fitness with Peel Thunder.
Speaking at his Friday morning media conference, senior coach Justin Longmuir said Darcy’s build back to fitness had been deliberate.
"There's obviously the bit around Sean making sure that we're building his body to be resilient in the back half of the year, and unfortunately he hasn't really been overly resilient the last couple of years, so we just thought it was a good opportunity to play him at Peel, get his game time up, get him confidence in his body, build his minutes in a way that we can control,” Longmuir said.
"Last week he played against a mature body at East Perth, in which I thought he showed really good strength. He's moving around the ground really well.”
Darcy is the only change to the victorious Round 15 side, replacing Mason Cox, who has been omitted.
Jaeger O’Meara, Corey Wagner and Chris Scerri have been named as the three emergencies for the clash.
As Perth continues to grow into one of Australia's most diverse cities, Freo are making sure AFL is part of the welcome.
This weekend’s ‘My First Freo Game’ is our celebration of community, welcoming Perth's newest families to come and watch AFL and join the Freo family.
Sunday will be the Club’s third Sunday game of the season and the first Sunday fixture to be played at home.
With availability at a premium, Longmuir also confirmed forward Sam Sturt suffered a setback in his push to return via the WAFL this weekend, re-aggravating his quad injury at Wednesday’s main training session.
“Unfortunately, Sam is not going to play this week,” Longmuir said.
“He's slightly re-aggravated that quad that he's rehabbing from.
“Hopefully it's short term, but unfortunately he won't be playing this week.”
Fremantle and Gold Coast will commence at 3.10pm WST on Sunday 28 June.
The game will be broadcast live on Channel 7 and Fox Sports 3, and streamed live on Kayo and 7plus from 3.00pm WST.
