The key talking points from Luke Beveridge’s weekly press conference.

Player availability

Adam Treloar will train today – if he gets through and feels good, he’ll play. It’s an important session for him.

Marcus Bontempelli should be fine. He’ll also train today. He got through the Geelong game no worries, but I don’t think there’s any concerns he won’t be picked in the 22. I think with any corks, you still carry them into the next week. What we look for is if you’re limping or and putting too much pressure on the other side of your body, we just sub you out. That wasn’t the case in-game though, so he should be fine.

Our key defensive posts weren’t an issue last week. Jeremy Cameron kicked seven against us in the previous outing, but (this time) between him and Tom Hawkins they only ended up with three. I felt our key backs did a pretty good job, so there isn’t a real selection push this week, but Alex Keath is an exceptional young man. He went to work on some of the things that he thinks and we think will improve his game, but we’ll work (the team) out post-training. 

Toby McLean got a really heavy tag against Werribee VFL last week, and did all the team things. Physically he’s well prepared now, so if we need to call on him he’d be ready to play AFL footy, but as I said it’d be more of a needs aspect. He might need to bide his time a bit longer.

Fremantle preview

Part of the springboard this week is to improve on certain aspects (from the Geelong game). The consistency is something we’ve been talking about all year. We’ll need to be very good over the journey of 120 minutes against Fremantle, which have impressed all of us this year.

They’ve played some of the most esteemed or recognised teams in recent weeks. You only have to look at the draw against Richmond to see a ballistic game at Marvel, and see how quick they get across the ground.

I think what we’ve seen with Fremantle is just a really well-balanced side. Their desire levels have been up all year. The complexion of their team has changed a bit throughout the year, but I’ve been really impressed with some of their younger guys – Chapman, Brayshaw and Young across half-back. Even Clarke from Geelong has given them a lot of drive, so they’ve been able to stabilise their group a little bit over time.

They represent a huge challenge – they’ve got great balance in their team. That’s what we’ll be up against.

Sam Darcy

He came in with a pretty significant foot injury, and has done a tremendous job with his professionalism. Quite often there’s a risk of regressing or having a hiccup with an injury like that, which could be career-ending, so between him, our medical staff, rehab guys, high performance crew and coaches - he’s worked really closely with all of them.

He’s feeling pretty healthy and has sort of fortified himself against the endurance side of the game which is important.

(His best position) will take a bit of time to work out. Sometimes it depends on needs – there isn’t an overwhelming need for a key forward right at this point in time, hence part of the reason why we’ve sent him back again.

He might make his debut as a key defender, but could finish his career as a ruck-forward.