ON ALL the evidence available halfway through last season, Adam McPhee's move to Fremantle at the end of 2009 appeared ill-fated for both player and club.

The All Australian defender had left Essendon after 142 games and headed home with aspirations to prove himself as a midfielder under his main football mentor, Mark Harvey.

But eight rounds into his second stint with Freo (he played 25 games with the club in 2001-02), McPhee was in a serious football rut.

The club had effectively secured him for free in the 2010 NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft, but even that seemed too high a price to pay for Fremantle supporters, as he quickly became the club's whipping boy.

It is a credit to McPhee, who is due to play his 200th AFL game against Hawthorn this weekend, that he was able to push through the testing period and become a valued member of the team.

"It was a really interesting time in my career," the 28-year-old recalled this week. "I had so many things outside of football that were a distraction, as well as injuries.

"I was probably dealing with the most distractions I've ever had.

"I could understand the fans' expectations of me were high, but I think, to be honest, it was the amount of pressure I was putting on myself.

"This year, when I've played my best football, I haven't really worried about anything else."

McPhee's resurrection began with a series of midfield tagging jobs last year, most notably against stars Lenny Hayes and Chris Judd and, by the end of the season, he was playing a significant role in the forward line, lifting in the finals.

A seven-week knee injury interrupted McPhee's 2011 season, but the way the game is being played this year appears to suit the tough utility, with his ability to harass and force turnovers enough for Harvey to rush him back three weeks ago to face the Sydney Swans. 

"I think I've been able to adapt every year to the changes and I think my knowledge of the game is at its highest," he said. "I still think I've been able to have an impact up forward."

Halfway through a three-year contract with the club, McPhee said he had no doubt the move west had been good for his career after becoming "stale" towards the end of his seven years at Essendon.

Importantly, he said, Fremantle was assessing him on potential, not what he had done in the past.

"When you're at an organisation for so long, they expect the same things, you deliver the same things and sometimes you don't actually improve," he said.

"When you go to a new club with new teammates and new coaches, they look at you as a whole rather than just narrowing you down to one position or one role you can play.

"I saw that when I originally left Fremantle and became an Essendon footballer and the same thing happened when I came back," he said.

"I was looked at differently when I got here."