Overview
- Fremantle earned the minor premiership after a club-record 14-game winning run and 19 home-and-away wins and will host Hawthorn in a qualifying final on Thursday at Optus Stadium.
- Coach Justin Longmuir confirmed Jye Amiss, Sam Switkowski, Heath Chapman and Murphy Reid are set to return pending they complete main training while key defender Brennan Cox is ruled out with a calf injury.
- Longmuir says the Dockers will rely on back-six support and Chapman’s positional flexibility to contain Hawthorn goalkickers, with Alex Pearce or Oscar McDonald likely to take the main match-up on Jack Gunston.
- Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell expects Jack Ginnivan to be available after a managed layoff and believes the Hawks’ recent trips to Western Australia help their preparation for a hostile Optus Stadium crowd.
- Elsewhere in finals fitness news, Geelong’s Max Holmes is pushing to return for Friday’s elimination final and Carlton will prepare for both his availability and uncertainty over defender Nick Haynes while Will Hayward presses to be fit.