The parachute pants have been on standby for most of the year but this time it is actually going to happen. That's right - Byron Mc Schammer, the little midfielder who has been too legit to quit, will play for Fremantle. On hearing the news the people of Fremantle took to the street to dance, which was quite fortunate because it meant they then missed the rest of the selections for this week's match against Sydney.  Once again Fremantle will be without Aaron Sandilands who is out for another week with some sort of giant related foot injury. Rhys Palmer is also out so he can freshen up for the finals while  Justin Bollenhagen's contract is worded such that he plays two weeks on, then one week off. Along side Schammer will be Zac Clarke, giving Fremantle a ruckman, and Michael Walters, giving them a much needed Swan Districts player. Sydney have been too gutless to make any changes.

It’s a hassle taking Aaron Sandilands places. “I can’t fit my legs in here’, “I bumped my head on that”, “it takes a dozen of these hotel towels to get dry”, “No, I ordered the 3kg steak”. He never shuts up. So it was with great relief that they left him at home when they headed over to play one of the sides Victoria keeps around for their nostalgic value, the North Melbourne Kangaroos.

Fremantle had also left Hayden Ballantyne behind, which made the trip much quieter and Chris Tarrant had stayed in Perth too, saving Fremantle from getting lost on one of his legendary ‘short cuts’ through Melbourne.

So it was a much more relaxed Fremantle that arrived in Melbourne. Calm, unhassled and worry free, Unfortunately that’s not a great state of mind to have when you go into a game of football.

Fremantle's preparation for their finals campaign is going well after Aaron Sandilands was successfully rested for the Round 19 match against the Kangaroos. But while the rest went well, the game he missed was a bit of a shambles.  Fremantle struggled to kick goals against an enthusiastic North Melbourne and were given a taste of what it's like to be an Eagle. The Dockers were belted in the opening quarter, kicking just one goal to the Roos' seven but they regained some pride in the second quarter, pegging the margin back to 11. After half time the Dockers succumbed to the pressure of the Roos a few too many times, turning the ball over and coughing up goals to far inferior footballers, eventually losing by 54 points.

Last year was a bit of a bust and it can only be put down to one thing - with a new coach, the supporters put too much faith in him. They stopped working the magnetic board, coming up with the perfect match ups and killer moves and weren't prepared to yell out advice to the coach between quarters. Poor old Harves wouldn't have known what to do. So make sure this season you arrive at the game prepared and when you see Mark Harvey walking by, yell out your best ideas at the top of your voice to help him along.