Nat Fyfe has returned to the senior Fremantle side after a long injury lay-off, spending a fair bit of time wearing a substitute vest but a welcome sight when he did appear on the ground. His role is as a B-rotation inside mid, with little of the movement to get dangerous inside forward 50 that was the hallmark of his glory years. Like Jaeger O'Meara, he is a wise old head who can settle the developing Docker midfield brigade. While he has lost more than a yard by foot, he is still quick of hand and knows the game back to front. A support player, still best 22 material.
Nat Fyfe has returned to the senior Fremantle side after a long injury lay-off, spending a fair bit of time wearing a substitute vest but a welcome sight when he did appear on the ground. His role is as a B-rotation inside mid, with little of the movement to get dangerous inside forward 50 that was the hallmark of his glory years. Like Jaeger O'Meara, he is a wise old head who can settle the developing Docker midfield brigade. While he has lost more than a yard by foot, he is still quick of hand and knows the game back to front. A support player, still best 22 material.
Nat Fyfe was a popular pick for fantasy coaches at the start of the 2024 season, coming off a disappointing campaign rocked by persistent injury. The dual Brownlow Medallist isn't getting any younger and, while he has avoided major outages this year, his visible lack of spring and desultory efforts between stoppages has led to most of his owners selling up already. If the Dockers needed a one-dimensional inside specialist who needed long spells on the bench, they would be better served at this point by Will Brodie. He survives on reputation at this point.
Nat Fyfe has returned to the Fremantle side after a long-term injury and found himself right in the middle of a possible flag run. He started forward in the first game or two, then increasingly shifted to central midfield and now plays his regular mid role with rests forward. He has been helped in this regard by the health of the key forwards in front of him, as Lobb, Taberner, Frederick and sometimes Logue fill the tall slots in attack. There was some speculation that his return would cruel the scores of Will Brodie, but that appears overblown. Flagmantle needs a fit Fyfe.
Nat Fyfe willed his Dockers home in a ding dong battle with Sydney last week, overcoming his personal demons to snap the sealer in the dying stages to cap off a true leader's performance. His kicking style has always been suspect and let him down at important times - no more important than a Grand Final where he missed a crucial shot - but it has been truly execrable this season with a 2.15 record after round 9, followed by 1.0 and 2.1 in the past fortnight. Has he turned it around? No, his technique is always going to be poor. It's the mental side that matters now.
Sound the Fyfe highly
Another outstanding season in 2019 culminated in a second Brownlow Medal and All Australian captaincy for Nat Fyfe. The midfield general collected a career-high disposal average, ranked number one for contested possessions and gathered the third most clearances across the competition. He kicked multiple goals on four occasions, including a bag of three from 33 touches against the Tigers in round 8. Shoulder surgery delayed his involvement in full contact training to the new year. Fyfe is a consistent fantasy goliath and has been for the past decade. One slight on the star has been his durability record, missing 10 fixtures in the past three seasons with knocks and the odd suspension. Another query is over his taggability due to lack of other respected targets in a shallow midfield, though he will more often than not bust through a tag for big scores anyway. In the midst of his peak athletic years, expect Fyfe to be off the board in the first few rounds.
Nat Fyfe is the undisputed leader of the Fremantle Football Club, so much so that the departing Lachie Neale had a few corner-of-the-mouth comments about how things were a bit too much in his control. The midfield around him is young and developing, which means they will lean on him even more post-Neale and will hope that he is back to 100% following his leg break in 2017. Fantasy owners will also hope that his ceiling has not lowered post the injury.
Fyfe plays merry tune
A six-week hamstring injury suffered in round 15 was the only thing that stopped Nat Fyfe posting his best set of figures last season, including his Brownlow year. He pumped out half a dozen 120+ scores and replicated the elite football we’ve come to expect. A Brad Ebert tag in the opening round kept him to 22 touches, but he remained mostly tag-free throughout the year. Two poor scores against Collingwood were uncharacteristic. While younger players will aim to fill the massive Lachie Neale midfield void, there’s no questioning that Fyfe will embrace even more responsibility as a direct result in 2019. Rest assured, he’ll thrive with the added weight on his shoulders and is a serious chance to deliver his best season yet. Fyfe is a gun, through and through, and with the hope that he can stay injury-free, deserves to be chosen very early in the draft.
Fyfe has life
It was always going to be tough for Nat Fyfe to hit top gear in the year after breaking his leg, as history shows that a full recovery takes more than 12 months. He started 2017 with three 110+ scores then didn't hit the ton again until a six-week purple patch starting in round 16, ending up eight points down on his 2016 numbers. He averaged 105 fantasy points in his Brownlow year of 2015. Even 90% of Fyfe still made for a very good player. The drop off in his influence was more pronounced than his bare stats, as he couldn't stop the flow of games mostly going against the Dockers, though he still made top four in contested footy so it wasn't for lack of effort. Time to heal and a full preseason should see him return to his peak, and maybe beyond.
