Indigenous All Stars match: Five Fremantle Dockers players who impressed in pre-season hit-out

Fremantle were no match for the Indigenous All Stars, but they still had players who shone in the 43-point defeat. Here’s our pick of the bunch as the Dockers completed their first pre-season hit-out. Caleb Serong He’s polled 52 Brownlow votes in the past two seasons, but having turned 24 just last week, Serong still has another level or two to climb to. The two-time Doig medallist bossed proceedings through the middle, particularly early, to keep Fremantle within touching distance before the game got away from the home side. By the time it was done, he had led all Dockers with 27 touches and five clearances but ultimately lacked support from teammates once the ball was worked wider on the spread. The next step in his ascension may be making the most of his chances in front of goal. Serong got extended opportunities to rest forward, and could have had three majors in the first term alone, with two errant set-shots and a third chance denied by a poor umpiring call for what should have been a mark deep in the pocket. Jeremy Sharp It’s a sight Freo fans would love to again see in the season proper: Sharp making the southern wing at Optus Stadium his own. Sharp was his typically gut-running self, working tirelessly from goalsquare to goalsquare and providing much-needed width and defensive cover before being mothballed at three-quarter time with 18 disposals. He also snapped a steadying early goal, added another with a long bomb in the third term, and carved out four clearances – double the amount of his best such effort for any full game as a Docker. Michael Frederick Freo’s spearhead duo Jye Amiss and Josh Treacy were expected to perform strongly against an All Stars side without much key defensive depth outside of Steven May, but it didn’t pan out that way. Instead, Frederick emerged as the Dockers’ most effective forward. He booted three goals from a similar spot on the ground each time, bobbing up in the hole at the top of the 50m arc as a spot-up target. The speedster contributed his usual chasing and tackling pressure in an encouraging tune-up. Corey Wagner Wagner played the last 10 games for Freo last season and stated a case to hold his spot with a composed display on Saturday. Entrusted with some additional distribution duties – including kick-ins – in the absence of Luke Ryan, gaining a game-high 586 metres with his 24 largely effective disposals. He and the rest of Fremantle’s defensive unit will be relieved they don’t have to deal with the level of small-forward pressure from the All Stars’ elite names on a weekly basis. Nathan O’Driscoll He appears to be behind Sharp and Jaeger O’Meara in the wing role pecking order, but O’Driscoll showed signs that he can press for a spot in Freo’s best 23. O’Driscoll racked up 548 metres gained among 17 touches and displayed a penchant for taking the game on - a trait the Dockers lacked at times in 2024. He also pinged Izak Rankine with a holding-the-ball tackle - one of a team-high six for the afternoon - and produced a smother on Jase Burgoyne as a reward for some hard running on the northern wing.