Honeyball takes a look at the likely best 23 for Fremantle ahead of the 2026 AFL season, noting ins and outs, key injuries, plus a look at relevant AFL Fantasy and SuperCoach players.
We’ve used quotes from Dockers coach Justin Longmuir’s chat on afl.com.au’s Your Coach podcast to offer additional insight on relevant players.
Ins: Mason Cox (SSP), Leon Kickett (Rookie Draft), Ryda Luke (Category B rookie), Judd McVee (trade, Melbourne), Tobyn Murray (No.40 draft pick), Adam Sweid (No.25 draft pick), Toby Whan (Category B rookie)
Outs: James Aish (retired), Will Brodie (trade, Port Adelaide), Jack Delean (delisted), Nat Fyfe (retired), Odin Jones (delisted), Quinton Narkle (retired), Liam Reidy (trade, Carlton), Michael Walters (retired)
Key Injuries: Sam Sturt (knee)
Predicted Round One 23
B: Luke Ryan, Alex Pearce, Heath Chapman
HB: Jordan Clark, Brennan Cox, Judd McVee
C: Corey Wagner, Luke Jackson, Neil Erasmus
HF: Murphy Reid, Josh Treacy, Shai Bolton
F: Sam Switkowski, Jy Amiss, Pat Voss
Foll: Sean Darcy, Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong
I/C: Hayden Young, Brandon Walker, Matthew Johnson, Jaeger O’Meara, Michael Frederick
Luke Jackson
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir: “It’s always been a plan to evolve him into that midfielder. He moves so well for a tall player, he’s great at ground level, and he puts a lot of tackle pressure on for us in that role.
“We wanted to give him a full pre-season [in the midfield]. There’s a fair bit of detail that goes around the stoppage aspect of the game, which he was learning in game, so it’s been great to give him a pre-season where he’s been able to learn some of those things when there hasn’t been as much on the line. Clearly there’s going to be moments where he’s really important for us in the ruck, and there’s going to be times when we feel like he can best impact the game as a forward… To have that sort of flexibility is going to help us in games a lot.”
Hayden Young, Caleb Serong, Andy Brayshaw, Murphy Reid
Longmuir: “We’ve seen that over the pre-season where Luke Jackson’s played more midfield time, Murphy Reid’s played a little bit more midfield time, (Shai) Bolton’s played a little bit more midfield time.
Jordan Clark, Leon Kickett
