Fremantle Dockers have what it takes to be flag contenders in 2026

Fremantle have reached Graduation Day. It’s time to cast aside the textbooks and put on their work boots to tackle the cutthroat world that is the AFL’s top four. There’s no safety net in the real world, and it’s dog-eat-dog. Fremantle fans and the entire league expect the club to contend because they’ve spent years doing the hard yards. The original rebuild was a primary school. It was tough. Everyone had to learn, and the club had lots of young kids trying to find their way. Then they became high-schoolers, with some youngsters performing beyond their tender years. That group won a final against the Western Bulldogs in 2022. But the hype and expectation didn’t match the reality of what the list was actually capable of. That team was young – and it kept getting younger. Fremantle travelled to Geelong in round one last year with the second youngest team of the round. That group had combined for fewer than 1700 matches, the least in the league. That group had to endure growing pains, which started with a 78-point hiding at GMHBA Stadium. There’s going to be a sense of de ja vu when they return to the Cattery in round one this season. But the difference should be stark. This time, they’ll run out with a vastly more experienced team that has played in finals. This time, they’ll have depth. Heaps of depth. Players who have been important members of the team will be extremely nervous about their selection prospects every week. The way Fremantle performed in the second half of last season has built genuine belief. They recovered from a 4-5 start to the season to become a force on the road. Interstate wins over Collingwood, Gold Coast, GWS, Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs commanded respect. The team changed enormously during 2025. Pat Voss — a reject at two other clubs — became a very good player. Six goals on the MCG during a season-defining victory over Collingwood catapulted him into a new stratosphere. He kicked 21 goals in the last seven matches and was a genuine weapon. Dockers fans hoped Murphy Reid would have an impact in his first season. They did cartwheels when he kicked four goals in one quarter on debut against Geelong, but the longer the season went, the more obvious it became that Reid was more than just a goalkicker. He is highly skilled, creative and unselfish. Reid’s clever play changed Fremantle and he won the AFL Rising Star award. He’ll now get opportunities in the midfield, and the early signs are he will change the way they play again. Shai Bolton slotted into the team well as both a forward and a midfielder. His 28 goals were so valuable. Now he’s had another pre-season, he will understand his teammates, and they’ll understand him. Bolton is a match-winner who doesn’t need much time or space to create havoc. Neil Erasmus was the good news story in the back half of the season. His career was at the crossroads after only four games the previous year and then getting dropped early in 2025. But Erasmus became a better player the longer the year went. He was influential across the last four games and ignored overtures from other clubs to re-sign at Fremantle. Now is his chance to take another step. Judd McVee has returned to Perth after starting his career in Melbourne. The game is demanding a faster style of play and teams need good ball-users to achieve that goal. McVee is a great kick and, if he can work in tandem with Jordan Clark, the Dockers will have two damaging players across half-back. Speaking of damaging, Luke Jackson could be anything. He won a premiership at Melbourne as a ruckman and has won games for Fremantle as a forward. And now he’s about to also become a big-bodied midfielder. Just imagine the chaos he could produce. One of the key positives for Fremantle over the summer has been the health of the squad. Last year they had dramas. Sean Darcy was recovering from surgery. Hayden Young missed most of the summer with a series of injuries. Alex Pearce’s pre-season was interrupted after he twice broke his arm in 2024. Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters had ongoing issues. There were questions everywhere. That hasn’t been the case this time. The big question surrounding the Dockers is how they will play. Often criticised for being too slow and cautious, they’ve been working on a more attacking style of play. But one swallow doesn’t make a summer. When push comes to shove — and pressure is high — can they play with the courage required to dominate? Or will they revert to what they know? Justin Longmuir will be entering his seventh year as coach, and he needs to prove he can take the club to the promised land. He needs to find ways to halt momentum because when things went bad last year, they went really bad. They conceded five goals in at least one quarter during the last eight home-and-away games, then coughed up seven goals to Gold Coast during the second quarter of the elimination final. It cost them the game. Those lapses can’t continue. Pressure will mount on Longmuir and his unique employment contract if the Dockers aren’t challenging. The Dockers are confident Longmuir has what it takes to create history. He fixed their problems in close games last season and a stack of players improved dramatically under his leadership. The next challenge is to get into the top four, win finals and challenge for the flag. Fremantle have gone out of its way as a club to reduce the pressure of internal expectation. They talked a huge game in recent years while trying to live up to their five-year plan, which demanded a historic premiership. Now, the official business plan is to just keep contending with the belief that if they do, a flag will come. It’s time for the Dockers to graduate.