Fremantle have made three changes for Saturday night’s game against Melbourne at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Sean Darcy, Bradley Hill and Ethan Hughes come in for Nat Fyfe (hamstring), Hayden Ballantyne (ankle) and Ryan Nyhuis (omitted).

Ballantyne sustained the ankle injury playing against Brisbane on Sunday at Optus Stadium but played out the game.

Strength and conditioning staff were hopeful he would be fit for selection, however it was decided to allow the forward more time to recover.

Ruckman Aaron Sandilands will also miss the trip to Darwin, however he is not considered an out as he was a late withdrawal against Brisbane and was replaced by Nyhuis.

The trio of Darcy, Hill and Hughes has combined for three AFL games this season.

Hill returns for the first time since injuring his knee in round two against Essendon, while Darcy will play his first AFL game of the season as he returns from a knee injury sustained in round two of the WAFL season.

Hughes has broken back into the AFL team and will make his second Fremantle appearance this season.

He has averaged 22.3 disposals per game from eight appearances for the Thunder this season, the fourth most for the team this year.

The defender has also taken the most marks for Peel this season with 63, despite starting only eight of their 11 games this season.

Hill and Darcy also impressed for Peel last weekend.

Hill collected 25 disposals and seven marks while Darcy kicked three goals to go with his 31 hitouts.

Bouncedown for the game, which will be Stephen Hill’s 200th for Fremantle, is at 7.10pm ACST (5.40pm WST).