ANTHONY Morabito is at the forefront of Nat Fyfe's mind as he prepares for his 100th game on Saturday night.

The two men will be forever linked as Fremantle's first two picks in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft. Morabito was taken with pick No.4, Fyfe with No.20.

At the end of their first season, both men had played in Fremantle's two finals that year, both received NAB AFL Rising Star nominations and both had polled Brownlow votes.  

On Saturday night, Fyfe will wrap up a first century of games where he has won two club best and fairest awards, an AFL Players' Association MVP, been named All Australian and played in a Grand Final.

In the same period, Morabito has endured three knee reconstructions and has added just three games, taking his career tally to 26 matches, and he remains sidelined with ongoing knee problems.

"I constantly think about Anthony," Fyfe said.

"He's one of my really close friends at the footy club and our pathways have obviously gone in different directions.

"We still use each other a lot as sounding blocks, obviously with footy and life and what goes on.

"It just shows how fickle the industry is, and all footy followers really feel for Anthony."

Morabito's future remains in severe doubt. He is contracted until the end of this season, but he has not trained all year.

"He's not around the club at the moment," Fyfe said.

"He's working through a few challenges."

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon told Channel Seven last month that the club had not given up hope on Morabito, but confirmed he was facing some significant challenges to get back and play again.

"We're exploring the whole world, really, to try and get the best treatment for Anthony," Lyon said on April 28.  

"It's not the end of the road yet but he's got some work in front of him. 

"He's still a very young man with enormous talent. It's not over 'til it's over and we're exploring solutions. It's just some knee joint soreness that people work through.

"There's been some great stories like Nick Riewoldt with that. So we certainly haven't given up here. That's not what we do."

Morabito isn't the only player who was taken above Fyfe in the 2009 draft to have endured a horror run with knee injuries.

Geelong selected Daniel Menzel with pick No.17 in 2009; Menzel has had four knee reconstructions and has played just 21 matches for the Cats.