AARON Sandilands is excited to be feeding young gun Rhys Palmer, but desperately wants to see that translate into Fremantle victories.
Sandilands is having a great season, with his ruck work, contested marking and around the ground work all improving. The 211cm ruckman hopes to see that combination with Palmer continue for years to come and can't wait for other renowned clearance players Des Headland and Paul Hasleby to return.
"I've been really impressed with the younger guys and I'm developing a good combination in the ruck with Palmer, which is exciting. (Garrick) Ibbotson has taken the next step up and guys like Chris Mayne have come in and made an impact, so that side of things has been encouraging," Sandilands said.
"It's exciting to see someone Rhys' age come in and have the impact he is. Hasleby and Headland are out and they are probably our two best clearance players, so with Rhys and those two we should be really good in that area next year."
Having lost seven games in a row, Sandilands sees this Sunday's clash with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba as a good chance for Fremantle to begin the turnaround, despite coming in as heavy underdogs.
"It's a good challenge for us with the Lions in good form. We have never won there before, but it could be a positive as nobody expects us to win," he said.
"It's always good to get away on a road trip with the boys, once we are over there we just need to make sure we come out ready to play good footy and hopefully come away with a win."
Sandilands is finding it hard to feel good about his own form with the team not winning, though, and is desperate to do all he can to help that change.
"I've been reasonably happy with how I've been going, but I know there are areas I still need to improve on. The last few years I have been working really hard on my contested marking with Earl Spalding and it's nice to have some starting to stick, but I need to keep working at it," he said.
"When you're not winning that's all you tend to focus on and you don't think too much of how you are playing personally. We need to improve on our clearances and we realise that. We are training hard at it and trying different things, so if we keep at it we will get better."
With Robert Warnock battling away with
"Things have been working well with Kep, but he can play forward, back or in the midfield so he and Robbie could be in the team together," he said.
"Robbie could give us another dimension and I look forward to playing with him if he gets a game. I'd love to play with him and build a good combination with him. He's a good kid that wants to succeed, so hopefully we play well together soon."
