Midfielder Adam Cerra says Fremantle needs to have more confidence with ball in hand in order to improve their skill level.

Cerra agreed with a suggestion that the team’s ball movement was not up to standard in their 22-point loss to Melbourne on Sunday at the MCG.

The 21-year-old said the playing group had trained at a much higher level during the pre-season and needed to back themselves with their skills during games.

“(The performance against Melbourne) doesn’t reflect the work I think that we’ve done over the pre-season,” Cerra said.

“We’ve done a lot of work on our skills and our execution in those areas. That gives us confidence knowing that we can bounce back this week and get back to the game we like to play.

“Our stoppage work and our midfield numbers were really strong, it’s just a matter of being able to execute going forward.

“(It’s) backing ourselves with the ball and our skills. If we do that we’ll get more shots on goal and more marks inside 50.”

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As well as the loss, Freo were dealt a further blow with injuries to key defenders Alex Pearce (knee) and Joel Hamling (ankle).

Both are expected to miss around six weeks of football and Cerra is hopeful Freo’s deep backline can handle their absence.

“It’s very similar to last year, it’s a next man in mentality,” Cerra said.

“Luke Ryan, Brennan Cox had massive strides last year, the same as Ethan Hughes stepping up big time.

“It gives us more of an opportunity to give players like Tobe Watson, Heath Chapman and Hayden Young.”

Cerra is also excited about what rookie forward Josh Treacy can do when he becomes available for selection in round five.

Following Peel’s pre-season game against Perth last week, Treacy was handed a two-week ban in the WAFL which doesn’t expire until the end of round four of the AFL due to the non-alignment of the seasons.

Treacy was eligible to play a WAFL pre-season game for Peel against Claremont on Sunday, where he kicked seven goals.

“It’s exciting. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t have him on the weekend but hopefully he’ll be back soon and hopefully he can kick a bag of seven in the (AFL),” Cerra said.

“He’s had a massive pre-season, especially considering he didn’t play any footy at all last year (due to lockdowns in Victoria).

“He’s had a full pre-season and is looking to play AFL games, I think he’ll be a really important player for us.”

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