Mason Cox, Alex Pearce, Neil Erasmus, Tobyn Murray, Sam Switkowski and Cooper Simpson at Fremantle Dockers

Interesting chat The sight of Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir chatting to players during or after training isn’t rare, but when there’s three players and three coaches by themselves in the middle of the ground, you would love to be a fly on the wall. Longmuir was deep in discussions with Mason Cox, Matthew Johnson and Neil Erasmus at the end of the session. Ruck coach Sam Naismith and midfield coach Joel Corey were part of the discussion too. That’s all hands on deck as Fremantle attempt to work out what their best on-ball group looks like and how to set up for next week’s intra-club game. Injury update There was no sign of ruckman Sean Darcy after his recent calf injury, and it appears that setback prompted Freo to take it easy with captain Alex Pearce too. The key defender has had a big off-season, and he’s also a player who has been prone to injury throughout his career. So, the Dockers made sure Pearce did as little as possible and he watched the session while sitting against the fence with Sam Sturt. Cooper Simpson has an injured hip and will spend a couple of weeks on the sidelines. New faces It’s going to take a lot for any of Fremantle’s draftees to break into the team for round one given the club has so much depth. But plenty of them are making sure Longmuir would notice them. Tobyn Murray’s tackling was a feature and he won a free kick for holding the ball against Jeremy Sharp. Leon Kickett’s ability to create just enough space to kick a goal was impressive. Toby Whan’s left foot is something to behold and makes him really stand out. Leadership matters Sometimes you’ve just got to tell it like it is. Professional athletes don’t have a lot of time to talk during training, so you need to be precise with instructions. Sam Switkowski has been a part of Fremantle’s leadership group since 2023 and he made it clear to everyone what he thought of their defensive efforts in one drill. Amid the discussion about what didn’t work or who needed to change, Switkowski cut to the point - “Just get better at defending.”