Dockers praise super sub Nat Fyfe for selfless role

Fremantle captain Alex Pearce has praised Nat Fyfe's selfless role as a sub, saying the two-time Brownlow medallist fills the team with confidence while sitting on the pine.

Fyfe missed six games with a foot injury and has been eased back in the past two games via the sub role.

The 31-year-old's return for Fremantle - who've changed their name to Walyalup to mark the AFL's two Indigenous rounds - has coincided with a purple patch for the club, with wins over Hawthorn and Sydney returning them to finals calculations.

Although the result against Hawthorn was well and truly decided by the time Fyfe entered the fray in the third quarter, his influence in last week's 17-point win over Sydney was crucial.

The Swans closed to within nine points in the final term, but Fyfe got busy in the midfield to help his team kick clear.

Fyfe - who tallied six disposals, two tackles, one clearance and five score involvements in that last-quarter cameo - could be the sub again in Saturday's clash with Geelong at Optus Stadium.

"There's certainly no selfishness in the way he's gone about it," Pearce told reporters on Monday.

"He's just part of the team at the moment where everyone is pretty committed and dedicated to winning and getting the most out of themselves.

"It's certainly nice to have a former captain, two-time Brownlow medallist sitting there waiting to go ready to be inserted into the game.

"It certainly fills you with confidence knowing you've got a player like that ready to come in and lend a hand."

Fremantle will be known as Walyalup Football Club this week and next to mark the AFL's Sir Doug Nicholls rounds.

It follows the lead of Melbourne, who temporarily changed their name to Narrm last year, and will do so again this season.

Walyalup will wear an Indigenous jersey designed by Pearce and Carly Grey - an Indigenous artist and sister of former docker Brady Grey - in Saturday's encounter with the Cats.

The jersey tells the story of Pearce's journey from Tasmania to Noongar country to play for Fremantle.

Pearce said he was honoured to play a role in the design of the jersey for a game he described as a major test of Fremantle's progress.

"It really feels like we've been able to tap into some of our best football in the last couple of weeks," he said.

"What better opportunity to really see how we're going than up against the reigning premiers at home?"

Pearce and Brennan Cox will be handed the daunting responsibility of taming star Geelong spearheads Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.

Cameron has kicked 34.10 this season to put himself into the Brownlow mix, while Hawkins has overcome a slow start to kick 26.10.