Gerard Healy believes Fremantle is the most likely team to climb up the ladder in 2024, saying the injection of Hayden Young and Nathan Fyfe into their midfield will give them an enormous boost.
After winning a final in 2022, the Dockers fell to 14th last season, with pressure mounting on out of contract coach Justin Longmuir.
Young finished 2023 through the midfield and impressed greatly. He has since spent the summer training exclusively in the guts, alongside Fyfe, Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong.
“Freo is the one for me that could rise,” Healy told SEN’s Sportsday.
“I thought they experimented with a couple of different midfielders, brought Hayden Young in off the half-back flank, he’s going to be a star through the middle.
“They’ve acknowledged that Nathan Fyfe is a midfielder. They stripped him down to play forward, which didn’t work. Get him back in and if he can play 15-18 games and Young, he could become an All-Australian midfielder.
“Add two of those guys to their mids, they’ve got good young talent up forward, they are one that could rise exponentially this year, you’d expect them too.”
Kane Cornes can see their pathway to 12-13 wins, given they play crosstown rivals West Coast twice, have their home ground advantage at Optus Stadium, and winnable road games including North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, Essendon and Hawthorn.
“And you would (expect them to rise) because they play West Coast twice and have the home games in Perth and the draw opens up for them and their backline is as good and as rock solid as any backline in the league,” Cornes said.
