WHEN asked how Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich’s career may be remembered in years to come, coach Mark Harvey has no hesitation in mentioning names such as Tony Lockett and Gary Ablett.
But the comparisons are not meant as a compliment.
Instead,
"It is not individual, it is about what he does from a team aspect now ... he needs to have team success,"
"He needs to keep adding to his game, and that is how you have longevity in the game, and he is smart enough to do that.
"And if you ask guys like Tony Lockett and Gary Ablett they would love to have a premiership in their careers as well."
Still with more wooden spoons than premierships, that fact is made harder to bear by the three flags won by the Eagles up the road.
As
"There is always a little bit of envy I guess on the back of them winning a couple of premierships,"
"This team and this club has grown up with them but we are pretty powerful now and we are not seen as little brother any more.
"We move on and do our best but don't get entwined in the rivalry I guess.
"I don't (hate them). I think if you get to that level in football you are probably getting obsessed and you need to step back a bit."
There are a few at Fremantle who do have that elusive premiership - Des Headland, Mark Johnson, Peter Bell, Josh Carr and of course Harvey himself.
But none of them has a title with Fremantle.
As they enter 2008, the fabled premiership window is still open but certainly not letting in as much breeze as it once did.
With the oldest list in the competition, the club chose to add even more experience in the draft with Essendon cast-offs Johnson and Kepler Bradley adding more black and red seasoning to the Fremantle melting pot.
But balancing that is a new coaching team, with
"Hopefully with the new coaching structure we have got, we have got that right, but it might take the guys a couple of weeks to really understand it and grab hold of what we need to do,"
"It has been fascinating to spend three months with the guys and have meeting after meeting to work through situations.
"And to see how they evolve as coaches, how they talk to players, how they coach what they do on the training track, how they conduct themselves in the media."
Within that media, the scrutiny of Fremantle this year is likely to be as high as it has ever been, given last year's on-field failures and off-field lapses by Jeff Farmer, Chris Tarrant and Headland.
And
"I was one of the key guys to talk him out of retirement because he was playing so well,"
"He is super intelligent, so therefore he would know what situation he is getting himself into. More often than not he would be making the right decision.
"He is naturally a guy that can get his fitness quite quickly so he is lucky, it is just a matter of him being an effective player."
