Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir gave detailed updates into a host of players in his weekly media conference on Thursday afternoon.

With names such as Blake Acres, Connor Blakely, Sam Sturt and Sean Darcy in the mix for an AFL return this Sunday against Adelaide, Longmuir provided an insight into who Freo’s match committee will likely consider as possible inclusions into this week's squad.

Blake Acres

(The selection of Blake Acres) is unlikely at this stage. He probably needs a run as he's been out with a hamstring and then a calf injury for a while, so we will look to get him some minutes in the reserves. I think it's best for his preparation and best for his resilience going forward. We hope he comes to hand pretty quick, I think he showed in the pre-season that he will be a really handy pick up for us. To have someone that can accumulate and run those wing patterns will be really handy for us we have just got to make sure we get some AFL fitness and some form into him as well. 

Connor Blakely

We've got to get through training with Connor and Sean (Darcy) and (Sam) Sturt and decide what our mix is afterwards. Clearly he is good at clearances in contested situations and he can clearly accumulate possessions, so his ability to find the ball is really strong. He's really adaptable and willing to learn and he's brought such a positive attitude around the place. (In last week’s reserves) he ran really well, and it was good for all of our players who weren't selected in the main team to get a run and play against some opposition.  

10:45

Sean Darcy

Sean is probably the one that would need to get through training today. He pulled up well from his game last week. I've said all along that I'm willing to play him, (Matt) Taberner, (Jesse) Hogan and (Rory) Lobb together, so we might get a look at that this weekend. He's just got to get through training and we'll discuss it at match committee, but that's probably firming.

On covering the loss of Nat Fyfe this week

It's going to take a collective midfield group to cover the loss of Nat, he's clearly a champion of the game. It's a big hole that we're missing, but I'm really excited to see what (Adam) Cerra and (Andy) Brayshaw can do through there. (Caleb) Serong will get another chance at it as well, so I'm excited for the opportunity that it will bring.

Luke Valente

I think with Luke at the moment it's about getting him game time. He's missed so much footy and hasn't played a lot since he was drafted to us. He had a horrible injury last year which he is still recovering from in some sense, so it's about him getting continuity in his footy and I think back-to-back games will be really good for him to get that. He's a developing mid and if he continues to develop at the rate he is, then his opportunity will come.

Michael Frederick

His name is coming up at selection from the coaches and he's definitely got some attributes that will allow him to be a really good AFL player. We've just got to get the timing right with him. There is a few structural things he is working on and running patterns at AFL level that he needs to get right, but he is developing really well. His time won't come this week but it will come in the near future.

Brennan Cox

He's not going to come up (to be able to play) this week so that creates a big challenge for us. I thought we handled it really well last week, I thought we were a bit undersized down there but we are doing it as a collective back six. I thought last week we handled it really well given the Gold Coast tall forwards were really dangerous heading into the game. I just need them to defend as a group once again. 

Cam McCarthy

He played the whole reserves game last week and has been training for two weeks now. He is available for selection but he won't be selected this week. It's good that he gets an opportunity to string a couple of games together and get back to that form that got him selected in round one. He's been working really hard behind the scenes and hopefully it clicks for him soon.

Alex Pearce and Joel Hamling

Alex got some really good news with a scan the other day, so he will be able to progress his rehab which is great for him because he's had a number of setbacks. Joel is having a few complications with that ankle, so we are looking at different strategies to help free that ankle up and get some movement in it. The other thing we have to remember with Joel is that it was a really significant injury and not a normal ankle injury. We've just got to work through the best case scenario with him and he's in discussions with the doctors and medical staff to see what that looks like.