Fremantle Dockers to take on Collingwood in Mandurah

Fremantle were dismal in their first showing against the Eagles in Geraldton last weekend.

While it remains a pre-season game that counts for naught, the Dockers looked a step behind when they didn’t have the ball and found it hard to defend, despite fielding star players like Nat Fyfe, Michael Walters and David Mundy.

Here are five things to watch for as the Dockers take on the Magpies;​

Many Fremantle players will step onto the turf at Rushton Park with a sense of familiarity after having called the ground home when playing for the Dockers’ alignment club Peel Thunder. Most of the players expected to suit up for the Collingwood game will have spent time at Peel, while many who are new to Freo could spend time their this season. The Thunder fielded 17 Dockers in their grand final win over Subiaco in 2016.

He’s Fremantle’s most highly-anticipated draft pick since Anthony Morabito, and fans were scratching their head when they didn’t get their first taste of Griffin Logue against the Eagles in Geraldton. He’s received some big hype and some big praise throughout the off-season, including a contract extension without having played a game. Dockers tragics are keen to see what they’ve got – maybe they will get their first glimpse in Mandurah.

Mayne played 172 games booting 196 goals in his career at Fremantle, but the pressure-minded forward signed a lucrative deal with Collingwood in the off-season after saying he felt like “part of the furniture” with the Dockers. Now Mayne, who was a popular figure in the Freo rooms, gets an early chance to square off with his old teammates. 

The trend of AFL teams fielding strong squads in the pre-season will have Mandurah fans salivating. They are likely to get a close look at some of the competition’s heavyweights, including Nat Fyfe, Jamie Elliott, Michael Walters, Steele Sidebottom and many more. 

Fremantle’s women’s side will be out to undo a horror start to their AFL Women’s season when they clash with Collingwood before the men’s teams face off. Fremantle has notched three losses and a draw from their first four games, while Collingwood has tallied one win and three losses. The game will also be a homecoming for Freo’s Kira Phillips, Tayla Bresland and Demi Okely, who all called Rushton Park home when they played for the Peel Thunderbirds.

The AFL Women’s game kicks off at 10.35am with the men set to start at 1.40pm.