Fremantle has named an unchanged team for just the fifth time this season as it chases history in Friday night’s AFL preliminary final against Sydney at the SCG.

The Dockers left both travelling emergencies Jaeger O’Meara and Chris Scerri out of the team after the pair joined the Dockers’ 25-man squad that flew to Sydney on Wednesday and trained at Thursday’s Captain’s Run.

Defenders Brandon Walker and Brennan Cox had arleady been ruled out and instead are expected to play in for Peel Thunder in Sunday’s WAFL grand final.

Sydney made two changes, recalling winger Justin McInerney and defender Lewis Melican for injured pair Callum Mills and Harry Cunningham.

McInerney’s return is a bold gamble from Sydney coach Dean Cox and his match committee as he has not played at AFL level in more than three months due to a serious hamstring injury. He was in scintillating form at the time, considered in the early All-Australian frame.

The Swans recalled Melican to help Tom McCartin and former Docker Joel Hamling counter Fremantle’s big three forwards Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss and Patrick Voss.

Melican has played 10 games this season with his most recent appearance in round 22 against Port Adelaide.

The Swans resisted the temptation to recall Joel Amartey, who missed selection for the qualifying final despite passing key fitness benchmarks, preferring Hayden McLean to stand alongside Charlie Curnow and Logan McDonald as the tall options in the Swans’ attack.

Despite a lack of match fitness, Cox confirmed 26-year-old McInerney would be named to take on the Dockers earlier on Thursday.

“Justin will play and Joel won’t. That’s just the decision we had to make,” he said.

“Obviously our forward line functioned really well with the way it was set up the first time (this finals series). We understand Fremantle’s defence and how strong they are in that aspect of the ground, and it’s on all our players, certainly in our front half, to try to nullify and kick a score that we need.

“Obviously with Justin, he’s had a lot of work put in throughout this period of time, and now it’s a matter of backing him in.”

O’Meara’s most recent AFL appearance came in round 19. The 32-year-old has played just six senior games this year and has overcome a recent ankle issue. O’Meara is yet to win a final from just two appearances in September across his 14-season career.

Scerri has played nine AFL games in his debut campaign, but just two since May.

The two teams have met once this season, in round 18 at Optus Stadium, when the Dockers won by 38 points off a five-day break after they did not kick a goal in the first half in just the third time in club history.

After trailing by two points early in the final term the Dockers were inspired by an act of bravery by captain Alex Pearce who ran with the flight of the ball and took a goal-saving mark in defence.

They kicked the next seven goals in an unstoppable 14-minute burst to put the game away.

The Swans have lost only once at the SCG this season, to Adelaide in round 19, and have averaged 116 points from 11 games at the venue, but will be without the suspended Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon and injured trio Mills, Cunningham and Will Edwards.

Sydney v Fremantle

Friday, SCG, 5.40pm

DOCKERS

B: J Clark A Pearce O McDonald

HB: K Worner L Ryan H Chapman

C: M Johnson A Brayshaw N Erasmus

HF: M Frederick M Reid S Switkowski

F: J Amiss J Treacy P Voss

I/C: J McVee C Wagner H Young I Dudley M Cox

EMG: B Cox C Scerri J O’Meara

SWANS

B: J Hamling T McCartin D Rampe

HB: S Wicks H Kyle J McInerney

C: M Roberts E Gulden J Serong

HF: J Lloyd L McDonald H McLean

F: T Papley C Curnow B Cootee

FOLL: B Grundy J Rowbottom B Campbell

I/C: L Melican A Sheldrick C Cleary T Hanily J Dattoli

EMG: J Amartey W Green R Andrew

IN: J McInerney L Melican

OUT: C Mills (knee) H Cunningham (calf)