Ins and outs

Fremantle has made three changes to face the Hawks at Aurora Stadium on Saturday.

Veteran forward Matthew Pavlich has been rested, while experienced duo Michael Barlow and Zac Dawson have been omitted.

Into the Dockers' side are Clancee Pearce, Ed Langdon and Zac Clarke.

What to expect

We can expect to see a lot of young Dockers running around on Saturday down in Launceston.

Fremantle have arguably the worst list of injuries in the AFL right now, with last year’s Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe, ruckman Aaron Sandilands, defender Michael Johnson and former Gold Coast player Harley Bennell all sidelined.

Fremantle also confirmed during the week they would not be taking skipper Matthew Pavlich to Tasmania due to workload management, meaning that Ross Lyon will have a very young side at his disposal.

Although Fremantle were beaten by GWS, there are signs from them that if they were to have all of their best players fit and firing, they certainly wouldn’t be 0-7.

The Dockers had 14 marks inside 50 last week to the Giants’ eight, an impressive effort given the performance of GWS the week before against the Hawks where they took 18 marks inside their forward 50.

Fremantle also had only had four less clearances and six less contested possessions than the Giants, so there is a case to argue that if they had a full complement of players available, the result may well have been different.

Players to watch

After a breakout season last year, midfielder Lachie Neale is stepping up in the absence of superstar Nat Fyfe.

Since Fyfe went down with a leg injury, Neale has collected 33, 35 and 40 disposals in Fremantle’s last three games, and is quickly enhancing his profile as one of the most exciting young midfielders of the competition.