Team: Fremantle
Last Year: Finished Seventh
Ins: Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide), Joshua Simpson (East Fremantle), Max Duffy (East Fremantle), Tanner Smith (Rebels), Jack Hannath (Central Districts)
Outs: Greg Broughton (Gold Coast), Antoni Grover (retired), Adam McPhee (retired), Gavin Roberts, Jay van Berlo, Jordan Wilson-King
What needs to go right: Like every team, the Dockers need a good run with injuries, particularly to their big guns, like Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands. Sandilands has already had a few setbacks in the pre-season so there goes that idea, but Jon Griffin and Zach Clarke are pretty handy back-ups. Aside from that, the Dockers will need to keep faith in Ross Lyon's regimented game plan and take it to the next level after their impressive finish to last season, one that saw them go within a whisker of a preliminary final berth.
What could go wrong: Well history suggests it could all go wrong. The Dockers have never made the finals in consecutive seasons so there's a statistical chance of that happening again. But the Dockers have also never had a coach of Lyon's calibre either. That being said if Sandilands, Pavlich, Mundy, Barlow, Fyfe and McPharlin all go down, then they'll struggle big time.
Who's The Man: Nathan Fyfe: Fyfe burst onto the scene with a stellar 2011 before being cruelled by a shoulder injury early last season. He still managed 11 appearances though and averaged 23 disposals per game but the 20-year-old wasn't quite as damaging in terms of goals scored. However, with a year of Lyon's coaching under his belt and a more mature approach in terms of his disposal, Fyfe could take his game into the stratosphere in 2013. Also, keep an eye on Michael Walters as the rejuvenated Docker finished last year with all guns blazing and could be set to do it all again.
What would cost Ross Lyon his job: It would take a fair bit to shift a 'career coach' like Ross Lyon, particularly after the Dockers went to all the trouble of sacking Mark Harvey to get him from St Kilda in 2011. Maybe if they finished in the bottom four and Ross was walking around promoting the virtues of daylight saving and Sunday shopping then it could happen, but even then it's doubtful.
Best 22:
B: Spurr, Silvagni, Suban
HB: Ibbotson, McPharlin, Johnson
C: Mzungu, Mundy, Fyfe
HF: de Boer, Pavlich, Ballantyne
F: Walters, Bradley, Mayne
R: Sandilands, Barlow, Hill
IC: Morabito, Pearce, Clarke, Crowley
After Round 23: The Dockers will be expecting to build on last season and with the talent on their list should be pushing for a top four berth after the gains of last year. Given time is running out on the stellar careers of Pavlich and Sandilands, Fremantle know the time is now for them to make a real push for the flag. But they may find it hard to do so from fifth which is where Sportal think they will finish the season.