FREMANTLE coach Mark Harvey will welcome Josh Carr back this week and is likely to change the way he plays, starting on Sunday against Port Adelaide.
Carr returns after a three-week suspension, but Harvey will not have him playing in the same manner that he was. He's likely to find other ways to have a big impact on games, and that could start by running with Domenic Cassisi.
Harvey has listened to the criticism Carr has received for his actions and certainly believes his on-field presence would have changed at least one of the losses to Melbourne, Western Bulldogs and Carlton.
"We might have won at least one more with him in there because he specialises in the pressure of a last quarter and lifts under those circumstances. He will come back fresh as he hasn’t had the rigours of training, and I'm sure Josh will thrive on that particularly on the back of playing his old side," Harvey said.
"The niggle is something Josh probably has to concede now. He's a competitive person and will find different ways to be involved without doing that. One of his best mates is Cassisi, so Josh might go to him rather than letting Cassisi tag someone from us."
Harvey isn’t shying away from criticism Fremantle has faced for giving up leads at three quarter-time and hopes to fix it, but was left bewildered with some offers that came his way this week.
"There are sides that go into the last quarter 70 points down, so of course we'll take a lead anytime. We like to put it on the opposition and question where they are at, but now that the whole competition is talking about our last quarters, we have to deal with it," he said.
"It's been interesting the last couple of days with talk of psychologists, and I've had tarot card readers, gypsies and a ventriloquist all writing to me thinking they can help."
Matthew Pavlich has also been in focus for hitting the post with potential match-winning shots against Geelong and Carlton, but Harvey is happy with his skipper. Harvey might also rather keep him forward, but with Aaron Sandilands continually dominating the ruck and Fremantle losing the clearances, Pavlich will spend more time around them.
"Tackling is an important aspect, but so is your ability to get out of trouble when you have the ball, and that's where Matthew excels. He's always working on his goalkicking," he said.
"It's always a topic for debate at selection whether he's in the forward line or midfield. A lot of clubs like to see him out of the forward line, but we understand we have to rectify our clearance work. It's fair to say Matthew will spend more than 50 per cent around stoppage areas now."