Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says his team can’t rely on the emotion surrounding their departing champions when they take on a bristling Essendon outfit at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
The Dockers will use their final home game of the season to pay tribute to retiring ruckman Aaron Sandilands and the departing Hayden Ballantyne.
Ballantyne is keen to play on in AFL ranks for at least another season, but has already been told by the Dockers that he won’t be offered a new contract.
Sandilands will be remembered as one of the all-time greats at Fremantle, and will be widely feted when he steps out for his 271st AFL appearance.
The last time Fremantle farewelled a retiring great was in 2016, when the Dockers snapped an eight-game losing streak to notch a shock 20-point win over the Bulldogs in Matthew Pavlich’s last game.
The Bulldogs went on to win the premiership a month later.
Essendon arrive in Perth with huge pressure on the shoulders of coach John Worsfold following last week’s meek 104-point loss to the Bulldogs.
The Bombers (11-9) still hold their finals hopes in their own hands, but a loss to Fremantle would leave them on thin ice.
Fremantle players have been shown touching video clips of Sandilands and Ballantyne this week.
But come game day, Lyon says only hard work will get them the win over Essendon.
“I tend to try to learn off the best, and Leigh Matthews says that emotional burst lasts for 30 seconds and then you’ve got another 119 minutes and 30 seconds to go of hard work,” Lyon said.
“We want to get there and compete. The emotion’s nice and there’s sentiment in the game at the right time, but there’s an AFL game to be run and won here.
“Essendon will be stinging. They’ll come over fierce.”
The Bombers welcome back a raft of their first-choice players from injury.
Michael Hurley, Adam Saad, Aaron Francis, and Darcy Parish all return from injury, while Brayden Ham was also included.
Fremantle have recalled Ballantyne and misfiring forward Cam McCarthy.
The Dockers have been hit hard by injuries all season, but Lyon dismissed criticism of the club’s systems.
“We’ve hardly got a soft tissue injury. It’s just some bone and feet issues,” Lyon said.
“We’re not overly concerned with our soft tissue management. It’s almost a non- issue to be frank.
“There was a bit of a hyperbole about it, a lot of opinion. Unfortunately just opinion gets reported and the facts get missed.”
