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Play Nice 2020 Pre-Season Training
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"With a strong, mature body, Blakely could be the ideal candidate to go through their for Longmuir. "
- Dec 26, 2010
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And Blakely a first round draft pick.
Its so hard being a journalist writing up stuff that you think is probably a fact, when it only takes you 20 seconds to search online.
AFL: Six candidates for the Dockers’ most improved young guns in season 2020
Mitchell WoodcockThe West Australian
Monday, 3 February 2020 7:00PM
Six candidates for Fremantle’s most improved player in 2020.
There’s a lot of hype around the new-look Fremantle Dockers, who are looking to improve under first-year senior coach Justin Longmuir.
Here are six of the young players who could benefit the most from the new approach.
Sean Darcy
Age: 21 | Height: 202cm | Weight: 113kg | Games: 26 | Ideal position: Ruck
Slimmed down and looking to fill those size 18 shoes left by Aaron Sandilands, there is a lot riding on this season for Sean Darcy.
Yet there is a quite confidence among Fremantle faithful in the Geelong-native, who despite struggling at times, has always shown the potential to be a quality ruckman.
A foot injury ended his 2019, but he looks to have dropped some weight and is running well on the track.
Ruckman Sean Darcy has some big shoes to fill with the retirement of Aaron Sandilands. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian
Will be in for a big battle against fellow ruckman Lloyd Meek for a spot in the Dockers’ best 22, but the competitiveness between the two has been pushing them during pre-season.
With forward Jesse Hogan to miss an unknown amount of football, Rory Lobb is expected to be needed forward more than in 2019, making Darcy’s improvement something the Dockers will be desperate to see come to fruition.
Brett Bewley
Age: 24 | Height: 185cm | Weight: 87kg | Games: 7 | Ideal position: Wing
There probably is not more of an impressive figure on the training track than this summer down at Cockburn than Bewley.
The mature-age recruit has won back-to-back 2km time trials and is displaying some of his excellent kicking skills, something Fremantle have not been known for.
Captain Nat Fyfe is one of Bewley’s admirers this pre-season, believing he will add to his seven AFL games as early as round one.
Brett Bewley has been one of the most impressive figures on the training track this pre-season for Fremantle. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian
“I think he has got his name pencilled in round one for that wing position and someone is going to have to knock him off for that,” Fyfe said in December.
Bewley spent much of last year in the WAFL, but when he did enter the AFL ranks he did not look out of his depth.
With the loss of Bradley Hill and Ed Langdon to St Kilda and Melbourne respectively, Bewley could well be the light at the end of the tunnel for Fremantle’s midfield.
Griffin Logue
Age: 21 | Height: 193cm | Weight: 101kg | Games: 23 | Ideal position: Key Defender
We have seen glimpses of what the Swan Districts-product can produce and should he be able to string some consistent games together, then maybe we could finally see why the Dockers grabbed him with their first-round selection in 2016.
Logue became a vital part of the Dockers’ backline midway through last season when Alex Pearce went down with injury and he did not disappoint, averaging 5.9 intercept possessions, including 13 against Port Adelaide.
With his ability to play on a big and a small, there is no reason as to why he cannot play alongside Pearce and Joel Hamling in the backline.
Defender Griffin Logue showed potential late last season, but can he stay fit? Credit: Daniel Carson/AFL Media
What would have endeared Logue to Dockers’ fans the most is his attack on the footy and his never say die attitude.
If he can stay fit, then he could well become the third key defender they have been looking for.
Sam Switkowski
Age: 23 | Height: 179cm | Weight: 74kg | Games: 20 | Ideal position: Small Forward
The retirement of fan favourite Hayden Ballantyne has left an opening in the Dockers forward line, one Switkowski will be desperate to snaffle up.
A no-fuss sort of player, Switkowski loves to put pressure on the opposition’s defenders and has an inane ability to kick surprisingly good goals.
He played a career-best 18 games in 2019, kicking just the six goals but averaged five tackles a game to help keep the ball inside the forward 50.
Sam
The Dockers really need to get their forward line structure right and if they can, there is no reason as to why Switkowski cannot play a big role in it.
If the Dockers want Michael Walters to play more in the midfield, then they are going to need the likes of Switkowski, Lachie Schultz and Liam Henry to stand up.
Connor Blakely
Age: 23 | Height: 188cm | Weight: 90kg | Games: 60 | Ideal position: Midfielder
After five seasons, you would wonder why Blakely could be the most improved?
But a move into the midfield, a position he began in, could well see the Bunbury-product play his best football.
It is fair to say the Dockers need more size running through the middle, with captain Fyfe bearing a lot of the work.
Can a move to the midfield bring out the best in Connor Blakely?
With a strong, mature body, Blakely could be the ideal candidate to go through their for Longmuir.
The 23-year-old has no trouble finding the ball and he is a quality decision maker, so a move off half-back into the midfield is not a bad idea.
It would also help take the pressure on the likes of Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra, who are expected to play more prominent roles in the clinches.
Blakely is a former first round draftee and has now been at the club long enough to finally have a consistent impact.
Mitchell Crowden
Age: 20 | Height: 176cm | Weight: 84kg | Games: 14 | Ideal position: Midfielder
Tough and unrelenting at the contest, Crowden could give the Dockers some mongrel in their midfield they so desperately need.
He missed a lot of 2019 through injury, but when he did return to AFL level late in the year he showed his quality, with a 17 disposal, seven tackle effort against Essendon in Round 22.
Crowden also finished second in Peel Thunder’s best and fairest count, despite playing just 11 games, averaging 23.7 disposals and 7.9 tackles.
At just 20, there’s plenty of improvement left in Crowden, but he could be the perfect foil for Fyfe and play a good defensive role in the midfield to allow the skipper and Walters to be more free flowing and attacking around the contests.
With the addition of Blake Acres and James Aish in the off-season, as well as the rise of a number of young midfielders, there is going to be plenty of competition for places, meaning Crowden is going to have to truly earn his spot.
What a dreadful article!
How The West can call itself a 'news'paper without breaching the Trade Practices Act is beyond me.
- Nov 9, 2001
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I mean, if we're picking fault:
Sean Darcy
Age: 21 | Height: 202cm | Weight: 113kg | Games: 26 | Ideal position: Ruck
Slimmed down and looking to fill those size 18 shoes left by Aaron Sandilands, there is a lot riding on this season for Sean Darcy.
Yet there is a quite confidence among Fremantle faithful in the Geelong-native, who despite struggling at times, has always shown the potential to be a quality ruckman.
Sean Darcy
Age: 21 | Height: 202cm | Weight: 113kg | Games: 26 | Ideal position: Ruck
Slimmed down and looking to fill those size 18 shoes left by Aaron Sandilands, there is a lot riding on this season for Sean Darcy.
Yet there is a quite confidence among Fremantle faithful in the Geelong-native, who despite struggling at times, has always shown the potential to be a quality ruckman.
You any chance to make it down to a session, mate?
It’s easy, that Act doesn’t exist anymore.
Inveigh Slang
Club Legend
- Dec 14, 2015
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Might head down
Purple_Turtle
Stockholm Syndrome
- Oct 12, 2019
- 2,847
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- South Fremantle, Hull City
AFL: Six candidates for the Dockers’ most improved young guns in season 2020
Mitchell WoodcockThe West Australian
Monday, 3 February 2020 7:00PM
Six candidates for Fremantle’s most improved player in 2020.
There’s a lot of hype around the new-look Fremantle Dockers, who are looking to improve under first-year senior coach Justin Longmuir.
Here are six of the young players who could benefit the most from the new approach.
Sean Darcy
Age: 21 | Height: 202cm | Weight: 113kg | Games: 26 | Ideal position: Ruck
Slimmed down and looking to fill those size 18 shoes left by Aaron Sandilands, there is a lot riding on this season for Sean Darcy.
Yet there is a quite confidence among Fremantle faithful in the Geelong-native, who despite struggling at times, has always shown the potential to be a quality ruckman.
A foot injury ended his 2019, but he looks to have dropped some weight and is running well on the track.
Ruckman Sean Darcy has some big shoes to fill with the retirement of Aaron Sandilands. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian
Will be in for a big battle against fellow ruckman Lloyd Meek for a spot in the Dockers’ best 22, but the competitiveness between the two has been pushing them during pre-season.
With forward Jesse Hogan to miss an unknown amount of football, Rory Lobb is expected to be needed forward more than in 2019, making Darcy’s improvement something the Dockers will be desperate to see come to fruition.
Brett Bewley
Age: 24 | Height: 185cm | Weight: 87kg | Games: 7 | Ideal position: Wing
There probably is not more of an impressive figure on the training track than this summer down at Cockburn than Bewley.
The mature-age recruit has won back-to-back 2km time trials and is displaying some of his excellent kicking skills, something Fremantle have not been known for.
Captain Nat Fyfe is one of Bewley’s admirers this pre-season, believing he will add to his seven AFL games as early as round one.
Brett Bewley has been one of the most impressive figures on the training track this pre-season for Fremantle. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian
“I think he has got his name pencilled in round one for that wing position and someone is going to have to knock him off for that,” Fyfe said in December.
Bewley spent much of last year in the WAFL, but when he did enter the AFL ranks he did not look out of his depth.
With the loss of Bradley Hill and Ed Langdon to St Kilda and Melbourne respectively, Bewley could well be the light at the end of the tunnel for Fremantle’s midfield.
Griffin Logue
Age: 21 | Height: 193cm | Weight: 101kg | Games: 23 | Ideal position: Key Defender
We have seen glimpses of what the Swan Districts-product can produce and should he be able to string some consistent games together, then maybe we could finally see why the Dockers grabbed him with their first-round selection in 2016.
Logue became a vital part of the Dockers’ backline midway through last season when Alex Pearce went down with injury and he did not disappoint, averaging 5.9 intercept possessions, including 13 against Port Adelaide.
With his ability to play on a big and a small, there is no reason as to why he cannot play alongside Pearce and Joel Hamling in the backline.
Defender Griffin Logue showed potential late last season, but can he stay fit? Credit: Daniel Carson/AFL Media
What would have endeared Logue to Dockers’ fans the most is his attack on the footy and his never say die attitude.
If he can stay fit, then he could well become the third key defender they have been looking for.
Sam Switkowski
Age: 23 | Height: 179cm | Weight: 74kg | Games: 20 | Ideal position: Small Forward
The retirement of fan favourite Hayden Ballantyne has left an opening in the Dockers forward line, one Switkowski will be desperate to snaffle up.
A no-fuss sort of player, Switkowski loves to put pressure on the opposition’s defenders and has an inane ability to kick surprisingly good goals.
He played a career-best 18 games in 2019, kicking just the six goals but averaged five tackles a game to help keep the ball inside the forward 50.
Sam
The Dockers really need to get their forward line structure right and if they can, there is no reason as to why Switkowski cannot play a big role in it.
If the Dockers want Michael Walters to play more in the midfield, then they are going to need the likes of Switkowski, Lachie Schultz and Liam Henry to stand up.
Connor Blakely
Age: 23 | Height: 188cm | Weight: 90kg | Games: 60 | Ideal position: Midfielder
After five seasons, you would wonder why Blakely could be the most improved?
But a move into the midfield, a position he began in, could well see the Bunbury-product play his best football.
It is fair to say the Dockers need more size running through the middle, with captain Fyfe bearing a lot of the work.
Can a move to the midfield bring out the best in Connor Blakely?
With a strong, mature body, Blakely could be the ideal candidate to go through their for Longmuir.
The 23-year-old has no trouble finding the ball and he is a quality decision maker, so a move off half-back into the midfield is not a bad idea.
It would also help take the pressure on the likes of Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra, who are expected to play more prominent roles in the clinches.
Blakely is a former first round draftee and has now been at the club long enough to finally have a consistent impact.
Mitchell Crowden
Age: 20 | Height: 176cm | Weight: 84kg | Games: 14 | Ideal position: Midfielder
Tough and unrelenting at the contest, Crowden could give the Dockers some mongrel in their midfield they so desperately need.
He missed a lot of 2019 through injury, but when he did return to AFL level late in the year he showed his quality, with a 17 disposal, seven tackle effort against Essendon in Round 22.
Crowden also finished second in Peel Thunder’s best and fairest count, despite playing just 11 games, averaging 23.7 disposals and 7.9 tackles.
At just 20, there’s plenty of improvement left in Crowden, but he could be the perfect foil for Fyfe and play a good defensive role in the midfield to allow the skipper and Walters to be more free flowing and attacking around the contests.
With the addition of Blake Acres and James Aish in the off-season, as well as the rise of a number of young midfielders, there is going to be plenty of competition for places, meaning Crowden is going to have to truly earn his spot.
People need to lay off regarding the mistakes. They have to hand some stuff off to the interns to write, edit and fact-check if they want them to get practice.
Snuffaluphagus
Brownlow Medallist
- Sep 10, 2015
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Errrr yeah sure, but the final thing should be still be reviewed by someone of seniority before it goes out, it's their brand they are throwing down the gutter.
Editor phones it in there, every day.
Also Blakely was definitely not a former first round pick. He was second round pick.
They also stated Crowden missed a lot of football through injury. He played 11 games for Peel, 5 for Freo and 3-4 as 1st emergency. Adds up to 20 out of 22 games. There was prob also a bye or two for Peel where he didn’t play WAFL nor selected for AFL. So in reality he would have missed 1-2 games through injury.
Yeah I know - but 'the ACL' just doesn't have the same ring to it in this context... It sounds too much like something our guys might accidentally rupture during pre-season training and I didn't want anyone to panic.
Purple_Turtle
Stockholm Syndrome
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I was taking the piss. I'm pretty sure it was written by one of their regulars.
- Oct 17, 2010
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I would have been concerned if interns were involved. Seriously, my local paper is barely worth reading but The West seems completely dire.
On another note, I had a laugh at the ESPN commentator describing the 49ers' punter as "the pride of Western Australia" ... I suppose for a couple of hours he was!
- Aug 17, 2009
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If only we had a media thread to dissect the media 
Why so surprised? It’s probably that assignment you’d get that’s due in 3 months and procrastinate. This is the end product of the last minute copy paste and paraphrase. Perfectly typifies media, journalism in WA. Not one clue about any other sport/club other then West Coast and Freo a distance second
Well TBF we haven't really had a lot to write home about.
Get more info on here that the Worst Australian, but really West Coast and Freo are small fry in the international sporting horizon, so Perf teams are the only things that Perf journos should know about. Really brought home to me that the young fella who plays for the 49ers, and was a West Perth reserve player, is on apparently $2.8 million US, that's more than any player on an AFL list by some margin
Get more info on here that the Worst Australian, but really West Coast and Freo are small fry in the international sporting horizon, so Perf teams are the only things that Perf journos should know about. Really brought home to me that the young fella who plays for the 49ers, and was a West Perth reserve player, is on apparently $2.8 million US, that's more than any player on an AFL list by some margin
Fu**in hell, please let this dude be injury free this year. I'd love to see our young guns Brayshaw and Cerra step up in the midfield and get some games into Valente and Serong. Play Sturt HF and let him get a feel for the game. Young needs to debut round 1. Will pay dividends next year. I don't care what the media say about where we will end up on the ladder. Give JLo and Co a year to get it sorted and I'm sure we will see some great games from this young team.
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