Speaking at the club’s season launch on Monday night, Harvey said after two years of heavy recruiting Fremantle now had a good blend of youth and experience and players would have to earn selection in 2010.
However, the coach stopped short of nominating goals for 2010, the final year of his contract.
Fremantle debuted 10 first-year players in 2009 but lost 16 games in the process, including big losses to Adelaide (117 points), Collingwood (84) and St Kilda (83).
But Harvey, who has indicated that the number of debutants will be significantly less in 2010, said the team would emerge this season mature enough to compete for full games.
“There’s this sense of unity and discipline coming along that’s going to evolve this year”, Harvey told Fremantle sponsors and members at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Harvey noted that his developing players would be better equipped to compete on a physical basis and predicted more consistently intense performances.
"I think they’ll really take it up to sides for the whole of the game", he said.
“It’s going to be tough at selection … They’ve got to prove [themselves] and earn selection - that probably hasn’t been the case over the last couple of years.
“The way they embrace the physicality of the game will be the ultimate test of where this team can go.”
Fremantle launched the new season optimistically, but Harvey, president Steve Harris and captain Matthew Pavlich avoided timelines for success and any mention of the club’s finals chances in 2010.
Harris used his first major address since succeeding Rick Hart to reaffirm the club’s focus on delivering a premiership, rather than just chasing shorter-term success.
“My role is to ensure we maintain our focus on sustained success,” Harris said. “That we avoid the pitfalls of short-term pressures and short-term decision making.
“It means having a focus on a premiership and not just making the finals.
“Let me assure you that every single player, coach, staff member and board member shares this goal and understands what they need to do to deliver it.”
After a pre-season campaign that has netted wins over Melbourne and North Melbourne, as well as educating losses to St Kilda and Geelong, captain Pavlich said the side was ready to take on Adelaide at Subiaco Oval in round one.
The skipper was the most bullish on Fremantle’s prospects in 2010, saying he was confident the side’s grueling pre-season would pay off and new on-field strategies would hold up.
“We’ve got really high expectations of the group,” Pavlich said. “And ultimately if those guys individually don’t meet them, or as a group, then we’ll fail - we won’t have a good season.
“It’s about those high expectations and values. It’s those behaviours that we need to keep living day in, day out.
“If we do that long enough and consistently enough then we’ll be a force to reckon with. If not, then we’ll fail. But I’m really confident that we’re positioned well enough that we can be successful this year.”
