No excuses as Dockers aim high in 2018 AFL

Fremantle will start as underdogs in their round-one clash with Port, but coach Ross Lyon doesn't want to accept any excuses.

A file image of Fremantle Dockers AFL coach Ross Lyons.

Fremantle coach Ross Lyons is determined to ditch the Dockers' underdog status this AFL season. (AAP)

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has told his players that talk is cheap as he attempts to guide the side to an unlikely finals berth this AFL season.

The Dockers enter their round-one clash with Port at Adelaide Oval as underdogs, and they are being widely tipped to miss the finals for a third-straight year.

But optimism is building within Fremantle's player group, especially after their recent 62-point pre-season thumping of West Coast.

Lyon wants his team to regain the "anywhere, anytime, anyone" mantra that served the team so well during the successful 2012-15 era.

And he won't use the club's rebuild as an excuse for poor results this season.

Star midfielder Brad Hill (quad) has been cleared to take on the Power on Saturday, while prized draft pick Andrew Brayshaw and rookie Bailey Banfield will debut.

Recruits Brandon Matera (Gold Coast) and Nathan Wilson (GWS) will also play their first games for the Dockers.

Fremantle copped an 89-point hiding from the Power in Adelaide in round two last year.

But Lyon believes the squad has grown enormously since then, and he's looking forward to seeing how they handle their return to Adelaide Oval.

"We'd like to think we've grown. But talk's cheap. Everyone likes to talk it up," Lyon said.

"The intensity will be right up, and a roaring crowd.

"But mental toughness is responding powerfully to challenge. So we want to respond well to the challenge.

"We're here to try to play finals and win. We don't want to use the excuse of youth and rebuilding.

"We want to bring effort and intensity. That's the expectation. Players understand that and they're prepared to do that."

Hill had been in doubt to start the season after injuring his quad earlier this month, but he trained well on Friday and was part of the squad who flew on Thursday to Adelaide.

His brother Stephen Hill will miss the match with a calf injury.


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Source: AAP


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