The Look Ahead will be the staple pre-season content piece, setting a tone for all 18 teams. The plan is to use them as a scene setter for team trends and individuals. In other words, don’t expect predictions, expect topics to be introduced – from both a list build and on-field perspective.
There are teams I feel comfortable with my read on. Then there is Fremantle.
Player contracts
Of the teams looked at so far, Fremantle have by far the fewest players out of contract this year.
With the exception of a couple players, not too many scream out as a priority re-signing – which, given the last few years of steady departures must come as a relief.
Then again, when players ask out, what value does a longer-term contract have really…
List demographics
There is plenty of talent on the list across all lines, and yet the looming wildcard is Fremantle’s three first-round picks in the 2024 Draft.
Putting two and two together purely on a vibe check, it feels unlikely they’d take all three to the table on the night, instead looking for a package to fulfill whatever they feel is their biggest need.
What makes the Dockers such a hard team for me to get a read on this year is that by all indications – because of their strong draft hand and still youthful profile – they should be significantly better next year. Yet reports suggest there is pressure on their performance this year, with Justin Longmuir out of contract at the end of 2024.
While it’s entirely reasonable to have questions over whether Longmuir is the right person for the job and whether Fremantle can inject enough offensive flair into their game, the combination of a coach’s unknown future + young team + short term pressure + looming reinforcements make for a combustible cocktail.
Create your own Fremantle Depth Chart
Changes in personnel
In
National Draft: Jack Delean, Ollie Murphy, Cooper Simpson
Rookie Draft: Odin Jones
Other: Oscar McDonald, Jeremy Sharp
Out: Eric Benning, Travis Colyer, Joel Hamling, Liam Henry, Lachie Schultz, Nathan Wilson
Can their defence be maintained while improving their offence?
For Fremantle it’s a catch-22. Their defence and defensive structures are usually quite solid – unless they’re tinkering or completely out of form it’s rare to see large scores kicked on them. Even in their heavy losses in 2023, opponents weren’t putting down scores of 130 and 140+.
The twist – and what Longmuir’s reign comes down to really – is whether they can find a happy medium between defending strongly and challenging teams with their ball use.
Too many times in 2023 they were happy to chip around and control tempo at their own detriment, sacrificing opportunities for calculated risks in favour of the status quo. The season opener against St Kilda was a prime example, playing right into Ross Lyon’s hands and allowing an undermanned Saints to set up exactly how they pleased.
After a dire start, there were some tweaks made to ball movement and they paid off. Four consecutive wins between Round 8-11 raised hope a corner had been turned.
Yet that was followed by six largely dispiriting losses in seven games as the wheels fell off. By the end of the season it was difficult to figure out the Dockers’ priorities both in and out of possession as they constantly tinkered, looking for a magic fix.
It makes it tricky to figure out how they approach 2024. It goes without saying their offence needs to improve. But how much are they willing to change their profile? Can they stick the landing? And what happens if they don’t?
What is success for Fremantle in 2024?
I’m more than happy to take responses from the floor on this one.
Because through one door there’s a scenario where an improved offence clicks straight away, led by Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, and Hayden Young through the middle as Sean Darcy feasts on the new ruck rules and the Dockers are suddenly a high scoring team.
Yet the other door has a more than realistic case of another year of dour football, changes not working and limping to another nine or ten-win season. I can talk myself into either door depending which way the wind blows.
Normally I like to wrap this section up in a neat little package. But with Fremantle, I can’t. There are too many unknowns.
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