Mature-age recruits Michael Barlow and Alex Silvagni have both been selected to debut along with the club’s top draft pick from the 2009 AFL Draft, Anthony Morabito.
Barlow and Silvagni’s routes to the elite level have run parallel, with both experiencing setbacks in the pursuit of their goal.
Silvagni, 22, missed out on AFL selection in his teenage years, but he was rewarded for his excellent VFL form when Fremantle picked him up in the 2009 Rookie Draft.
“Going down the road of the VFL is a lot different from most of the other guys,” Silvagni said. “Just to get on a list was my dream, so to actually play my first game, I didn’t expect it at all.
“Coming this far, having had the setbacks, it’s made me work harder towards my footy to achieve what I needed to achieve. It’s a shock but it’s slowly sinking in."
Barlow shares a similar story to Silvagni. The 22-year-old now looks set to play a midfield role for Fremantle against the Crows.
“It didn’t sink in straight away,” Barlow said about his selection. “I had to get up and say a quick word about what I was thinking. I was over the moon and in a bit of shock.
“To realise I’m that close to realising my dream of playing an AFL game is phenomenal.”
Barlow said his promotion to the elite level of Australian Rules had been “a long time coming”, and that he wouldn’t be letting nerves get in his way.
“To finally get the nod at 22, there’s a lot of lost time to make up for but it’s very exciting on that front,” he said. “I’m not getting too far ahead of myself to allow myself to get too nervous. It’s a gradual process building to what’s going to be the best day of my life to date.”
Morabito, 18, was Fremantle’s top pick in last year’s NAB AFL Draft. He has called on the experience of one of Fremantle’s 2009 round one debutants, Nick Suban, to get an insight into playing a first AFL game.
“I had a chat to Subes (Nick Suban),” Morabito said. “He told me the reception he got from the WA fans was amazing. That will be a great experience if that happens.”
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said each player would earn the respect of their teammates by their actions and the way they went about it in their first games.
Harvey said he hoped both Silvagni and Barlow would be able to hold down positions in Fremantle’s defence and midfield respectively.
“They are not 18 or 19-year-olds and they’ve had to do it the hard way,” Harvey said. “So I expect them to make the most of their debuts.”
Harvey said the younger Morabito had displayed an ability to break open games, but the Fremantle coach wouldn’t be placing any unrealistic expectations on the Peel Thunder product.
“He (Morabito) would be still adapting from under-18 football to AFL, but he’s physically there and would need to assert himself that way,” Harvey said.
Fremantle Team
B Alex Silvagni Chris Tarrant Garrick Ibbotson
HB Greg Broughton Luke McPharlin Roger Hayden
C Anthony Morabito David Mundy Adam McPhee
HF Michael Johnson Matthew Pavlich Stephen Hill
F Jay van Berlo Chris Mayne Hayden Ballantyne
Foll Aaron Sandilands Michael Barlow Paul Duffield
Int Des Headland Nick Suban Ryan Crowley
Paul Hasleby
Emg Byron Schammer Steven Dodd Kepler Bradley
