When Freo met Adelaide at Patersons Stadium in round 10, star tagger Ryan Crowley was sent to mind brilliant Crows midfielder Scott Thompson.

While Crowley did the job, holding Thompson to 18 disposals, two other Adelaide midfielders did as they pleased all day.

Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane were simply sensational from the first bounce.
Dangerfield, a strong hope for this year’s Brownlow Medal, had 32 possessions and kicked a goal, while Sloane’s 33 touches and three goals would have him favourite to take home three votes from this match.

Even more impressive were the crucial contested possession and clearances statistics the pair accumulated.

Dangerfield had a whopping 21 contested possessions and nine clearances. Sloane was also damaging with 17 and nine.

Overall, Fremantle lost the contested count 155-134 and the clearances 52-31.

If Ross Lyon’s men want to reverse that round 10 result, a similar outcome in these key performance indicators cannot happen.

Giving Freo confidence is the side’s recent turnaround in contested possessions and clearances, perhaps best highlighted by the Carlton Mid Derby domination of West Coast, who had destroyed Fremantle in both categories in round 9 this season - just one week before the loss to Adelaide.

Ensuring Dangerfield and Sloane do not have another field day would go a long way towards winning, but Freo must remain mindful that Thompson and the other Adelaide mids, such as Bernie Vince, are also capable of being match winners.

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