Fremantle Footy Manager Chris Bond Explains Why The Club Re-Signed Bennell And Ballantyne

On Triple M Footy

Fremantle General Manager of Football Chris Bond has explained why the club gave contract extensions to injury-prone forwards Harley Bennell and Hayden Ballantyne.

Speaking on Triple M Footy’s pre-match coverage of the Fremantle v Collingwood game, Bond said that they’d committed to Bennell in good faith and that they appreciate Ballantyne’s experience.

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“We’d made a commitment either way [to sign Bennell],” Bond said.

“It didn’t matter to us if he pulled up sore from the game with his calf, because he’s been three years at the club, he hasn’t been able to do what we’ve wanted him to do or what he’s wanted to do and we made a commitment maybe four, six, eight weeks ago that he was definitely gonna be here next year.

“We wanted to make sure we took the anxiety out of him, say we believe in you, we’ll do everything we can as you have been this year to get up and play and we’d love him to be a part of it next year.”

As for Ballantyne, Fremantle felt they couldn’t sacrifice his experience.

“David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands and Hayden Ballantyne… we just feel that they’re gonna be our only players over 30 next year,” Bond said.

“We’re not gonna have any other player over 30.

“We have 15 players that have debuted in the last two years, we signed off on a commitment to rebuild this for the long future, and we just feel with those three we need some strong, really strong, great role models that are gonna help on the field definitely, even more so at times off field… that was our thinking behind Hayden.”