Fremantle 2019 pick No. 8, Caleb Serong, is set to make his AFL debut in round four against the Gold Coast Suns.
Serong, who played against Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell in school football last year, feels confident in his first game after seeing what his fellow first-year player was able to do in his first three AFL games.
“Matt’s a great player,” Serong told the Fremantle website. “He just attacks the contest and works so hard offensively and defensively.
“I guess, what he’s been able to do for the first couple of weeks, it does give me a lot of confidence as I have played against him a couple of times. It’s always a great challenge so I’m looking forward to playing against him on the weekend.”
Caleb Serong (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Noah Anderson was also a part of the Carey side with Rowell, who Serong will also face again on AFL debut this Saturday.
Serong and co-captains Rowell and Anderson led their respective school teams, Geelong Grammar and Carey Grammar, the last time they faced each other back in 2019. In that game it was Rowell’s turn for the post-game captain’s speech, with he and Serong complimenting one another’s individual performance.
While they won’t be making captain speeches post-game on Saturday night, the youngsters will be hoping for much of the same praise from each other after their games.
Rowell and Anderson took the chocolates in that match, winning by 58 points.
Serong will be eager to come into the Fremantle side and get a win first up for the club, coach Justin Longmuir and himself.
Teammate Luke Ryan praised Serong during the week, saying that “he looks like he’s played 100 games already”.
“He’s been outstanding and during our match sim, he’s reminded me of Lachie Neale,” the defender told the club website.
Serong started his footballing journey in country Victoria in Warragul, where he progressed through the state underage levels early in his junior career as a cricketer and footballer.
After under-15s he decided that footy was his path forward and focused more on the game, but he continued his cricket when he arrived at Geelong Grammar as a football-cricket scholarship student.
Serong played a vital role in the cricketing first XI, taking a remarkable 28 wickets for the season in his AFL draft year.
As described by Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir, “There’s not much not to like about him. He’s a competitive animal and loves to bash and crash. His strength is his effort around the ball”.
It was no different on the cricketing field, where Serong competed hard and dominated with bat and ball.
“As you can probably see, I can’t wipe the smile off my face, I can’t wait,” Serong said ahead of his debut.
“(Longmuir) said to bring my strengths, just to approach the contest like I have at training, to work really hard.
“He said I’d been training well, so to take that out into game day and back my strengths.”
You can learn more about Serong’s sporting journey from a 10-minute documentary I made last year called Chasing a Dream.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
It's semi-baseless speculation, but I get the impression that Blakely is just not quite 110% committed to the idea of football as a career, in that sense of being invested in the idea of being the best footballer he can be, or being meticulous in his preparation, etc. Game day he puts in more than Matera or Colyer, but I wonder whether outside that... Surely either Matera or Colyer come out if Darcy passes a fitness test tomorrow morning.
DTM
Guest
I don't get it with Blakely. He seems to have the talent but neither Ross nor JL seem to rate him in their best 22. Freo have too many players getting a maximum of 8 touches a game. Matera, Colyer and Shultz are 3 of them but there's a few more. If Matera only gets 8 touches, he needs to be involved in 4 or more scores - whether he kicks them himself or gives them off. He also needs to lay 5-7 tackles a game (not 1 or 2). I try not to be too down on players as I'm sure they are trying their best but I just don't think Matera is the answer in 2020.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
They'll both be around the ball but I doubt they'd go head to head. Freo will still be working mainly with Fyfe, Mundy, Walters and Tucker. By the way, if you ever want to know why Scott Watters never succeeded as a coach, the other day he came up with the 'gem' suggestion that Freo should use Fyfe to tag Rowell. Go figure! I still can't fathom why JL thinks that Matera, Colyer or Shultz are better than Blakely.
Max Hatzoglou
Roar Pro
You’re welcome mate. Yes, I was lucky enough to play with Serong against Rowell. Trying to stop Rowell and Anderson was a tough task. Them and others in the side like young Nick Daicos linked up very well and were hard to stop. It’s likely that Rowell and Serong will match up in the midfield at stages throughout the game on Saturday I’d say.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
Thanks for posting this, Max, and for the link to your doco. I'm really excited to see what Serong can do on Saturday. I remember being really happy that he slipped through to Freo in the draft. Struck me from the get go as a Lachie Neale replacement, and the talk out of the club reinforces that impression. Did you ever get to see him play against Rowell? Will be very interesting if they get the chance to go head to head at some stage during this week's game.