Mark Harvey’s back six has emerged as one of the best in the AFL this season, with key defenders Tarrant and Luke McPharlin in sparkling form.
However, Tarrant believes relentless pressure up the ground holds the key to Fremantle recording its maiden win at the Gabba when it travels to face the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.
“[Fevola] has had a lot of shots on goal and so has Jonathan Brown, so we’ve got a couple of big jobs in front of us,” Tarrant said at Fremantle Oval on Monday.
“It’s pretty hard to take these guys one on one. We know that team defence will be the way to stop those two, (so) hopefully we can get a bit of support from the other guys.
“It does rely on the ball they’re getting. If they’re coming through the midfield, there’s some things you just can’t do as a defender - there’s some lace-out passes and things like that we just can’t stop.
“The midfielders have been fantastic this year in putting on a lot of pressure for the ball coming into the forward line, so if they can continue to do that, it makes our job a hell of a lot easier.”
In a miserly defensive display against West Coast, Fremantle restricted the Eagles to 2.7 in the second half of Sunday’s western derby to run away with a 38-point win. The side had an impressive 106 tackles.
Eagles forwards Quinten Lynch, Josh Kennedy, Mark LeCras and Ben McKinley were all beaten on the day as Fremantle defenders Paul Duffield, Greg Broughton, Roger Hayden and Alex Silvagni prospered.
“With the back six, I think we’ve been injury-free as well, and we do work together,” Tarrant said.
“We all have different strengths, and our strengths all sort of work well together.
“Our job back there is to stop our man, and then you’ve got the little runners in 'Duff' and Broughton and these guys, who are just fantastic at using the ball and running out of defence. It’s working well.”
Tarrant, 29, is in the last year of a four-season deal with Fremantle, and the in-form full-back said he would reassess his playing future as the season unfolds.
“With five minutes to go on the weekend, my body was cramping up and I was crawling to the bench,” he said.
“It’s a tough game, and I’m still not sure (about the future). I’m just going to give every game the best I can, and I’ll just see how it unfolds towards the end.
“I’d love to just play some successful football here with Fremantle; that’s my main goal. I just want to keep doing my job as best as possible, with the help of all the other guys.”
