Since debuting together in Fremantle’s Round 2 clash against Hawthorn, Rhys and Chris have impressed with their fearless approach to the contest and their ball winning ability. Rhys collected 24 disposals and a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination from the match against West Coast last weekend, while Chris tallied 13 possessions, five marks, four inside 50s and an AFL Army Award nomination for a courageous effort to spoil a delivery intended for the Eagles’ Brent Staker.
Mark said Chris and Rhys’ efforts in the past fortnight had encouraged senior players to keep pushing to earn their place in the line up.
“Mayne and Palmer are putting pressure on those guys,” Mark said.
“That’s what we need. They’re actually lifting the team in moments that we need someone else to lift the team, which is a terrific sign. I can’t speak highly enough of the kids at the moment.”
Fremantle will be spoilt for choice at the selection table this week with big name players Luke McPharlin, Chris Tarrant, Shaun McManus and Dean Solomon strong chances for recalls. Mark said Luke, Chris and Shaun would benefit from the eight day break between games to help them overcome the injuries that kept them out of the line up that defeated West Coast last weekend.
Dean will also be eligible for selection after serving a two week suspension but, like his teammates, is not seen by Mark and the match committee as a certain starter.
“I like to think now that once we can get into the state of where our list is at that no one’s an automatic selection. All of them should play on the edge,” Mark said of his charges.
“I don’t think we’ve hit our best form yet and having said that we’ve still got probably six or seven players coming back in the next week or two who are going to put pressure on the guys that are in the side at the moment. Hopefully that brings the best out of the group and I know it will.”
Historically, both West Coast and Fremantle have struggled after a derby encounter however Mark believes the eight day break and the fact that the team hasn’t travelled for a fortnight leaves the club with no excuses against Richmond.
“I wouldn’t have thought it was a problem. We’re not travelling, we haven’t travelled for two weeks so we’ve certainly got no excuses.
“The whole of last weekend’s games were rivalry round so everyone will be recovering from them. They were all big games. They all had big build-ups to the games so everyone has to deal with that,” Mark said.
Mark also stated that going in as favourites on Sunday was of little relevance to him or the side when planning to face the Tigers.
“Dealing with the favouritism tag doesn’t faze us at all,” he said.
“It’s just about how we go about beating whoever we play each week. That’s all you can worry about.
“Terry (Wallace) has been a great coach over a long period of time and you never know where Terry is coming from with his tactics. He is very hard to read in those situations and this is going to be another of those games.”
