Arabic version: إعادة بناء دوكرز على مدى عقد تبلغ النهائي الكبير

According to ABC News, Fremantle’s current grand final squad is the product of a rebuilding plan begun after the club’s sharp decline in 2016. The Dockers had won 18 games in 2015 but were winless until round nine the following season, prompting decisions to move on experienced players and return to the draft.

Former national recruiting manager Brad Lloyd said the club had entered 2016 with an older group that was no longer producing results. Fremantle had previously reached the 2013 grand final and preliminary finals, but Lloyd believed a complete rebuild would take six to eight years. The club instead spent a decade drafting and trading for players it believed could produce success.

The process included setbacks. Recruits Jesse Hogan, Shane Kersten and Cameron McCarthy did not work out as hoped, while draftees Adam Cerra and Lloyd Meek later joined other clubs. But Lloyd and recruiter David Walls also helped bring in Luke Ryan, Andrew Brayshaw, Sam Switkowski and Sean Darcy, who became foundations of the list.

Fremantle’s 2019 draft further accelerated the rebuild, delivering Hayden Young, Caleb Serong and Liam Henry with picks seven, eight and nine, plus Michael Frederick at pick 61. Recruiter Mark Micallef said the club had identified that draft as a potential platform-changing moment. The Dockers also planned for Luke Jackson’s eventual return to Western Australia, while Jackson and Shai Bolton later arrived as premiership players and became key members of Justin Longmuir’s side.