‘Difficult’ truth behind bombshell, as bold player swap could fix two flawed AFL clubs

Less than three seasons ago, the Fremantle Dockers made one of the boldest moves in their 31-year history.

The luring of premiership Demon Luke Jackson back to his home state after just three seasons at Melbourne was a significant statement to the league. It stamped their intent to recruit boldly and build a maiden premiership team around one of the competition’s brightest young stars.

Fast forward to 2025, and Jackson is expected to ask for a shock trade back across the country and continue his AFL career where it first started.

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Foxfooty.com.au understands Jackson’s interest in returning to Melbourne isn’t driven by dissatisfaction with Fremantle itself. And as per multiple reports, his strong ties to former captain Max Gawn and coach Simon Goodwin make the Demons the only suitable club for any move away from WA.

It would be hard for Dockers supporters to not feel blindsided as rumours of a potential trade request at season’s end again rear their head. Jackson is contracted to the ‘Purple Haze’ until 2029 — making a return to his old club just three years into a seven-year deal all the more surprising.

Seven’s Mitch Cleary was the first to report on murmurs surrounding Jackson’s future at the start of March, revealing that the Demons were ‘planting the seed’ with the 2021 premiership player on a shock return to his first club.

Not long afterwards, the 23-year-old came out publicly stating he “definitely will (stay)” at the club he supported as a child; a press conference that was enough to put speculation so early on in the season to bed.

“I love Freo, I love playing at Freo, and I’ve always wanted to play here since I was a little kid,” Jackson told media.

“I grew up supporting the club and I always remember watching the games. I’ll definitely be here and I’ve loved my time here.”

Speculation around Jackson’s future simmered down soon after, but two months later, it’s flared right back up.

The West Australian’s Glen Quartermain on Tuesday night reported the strongest suggestion yet that the 199cm tall will depart his second club at the end of this year, writing that Jackson “wants to leave the Dockers” on the back of “significant off-field issues”.

Ironically, while Fremantle may lose one future superstar, they could gain another — from the very club Jackson wants to return to.

Kysaiah Pickett (left) and Luke Jackson (right) after winning the 2021 AFL Grand Final for the Melbourne Demons at Optus Stadium on September 25, 2021 in Perth, Australia (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

Jackson’s 2021 premiership teammate Kysaiah Pickett, who is contracted at the Demons until the end of 2027, has long been the subject of speculation around a return to his home state — and specifically to Fremantle.

Rumours emerged late in last year’s trade period that Pickett would look to join Fremantle, however nothing seriously came to fruition between the Demons and Dockers. However, the Woodville-West Torrens product is again expected to explore his options at season’s end, and a move this time around looks more likely; especially now with Jackson’s reported desire to move back east.

The prospect of a straight swap — Jackson to Melbourne, Pickett to Fremantle — is clean in theory. Both are young, both are contracted, both were first-round picks who’ve already won a flag. And crucially, both players suit the list wants of the opposite club. AFL trades are rarely this straightforward, but could this be an exception?

“More broadly speaking, I think it’s a win-win. There’s clearly a desire for Kozzy to go home; I think Melbourne understands that,” four-time Hawthorn premiership player Jordan Lewis told foxfooty.com.au.

“It’s a difficult situation with Fremantle … (but if I was them) I’d be happy with a straight swap.”

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Also speaking to foxfooty.com.au, five-time premiership Hawk Dermott Brereton added: “If Jackson wanted to go home, he’s a completely and utterly different player to Kozzy Pickett, but I think even Melbourne would agree that they have the same currency as each other.

“It would seem a fairly logical swap. Both would play hardball for a little while, until the penny drops and they say: ‘Right, let’s get this done’. That is, if Jackson really, really wants to go back to Melbourne.”

The biggest trade question looks likely to revolve around leverage from either club, given both players are contracted with at least two more years to run on their respective deals. While Jackson’s interest in returning to Melbourne is becoming clearer, Fremantle doesn’t have to trade him — and their intent to field two genuine rucks are well-documented, with fellow tall Sean Darcy contracted to the club until the end of 2030.

Darcy’s fitness has been brought into focus in the last 18 months, with the 26-year-old playing just 27 games across the 2023 and 2024 season. More recently, Darcy had a disrupted pre-season and didn’t feature at AFL level until Round 5, before being subbed out last Thursday against Collingwood with a jarred knee.

From rival, to teammate, to rival — all in the space of three seasons? It could happen. (Photo by Dylan Burns via Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

If Jackson’s ruck partner-in-crime was fit and firing, Fremantle may be slightly more open to offloading him if it meant they would acquire Pickett. But with Darcy’s fitness under constant watch, it’s hard to see Fremantle easily parting with their 2022 trade prize.

“If Darcy becomes less consistent in terms of his ability to get on the park, as Fremantle you’ve got to stand strong and stand your ground,” Lewis continued.

“That is absolutely real.”

Similarly, Melbourne has little incentive to move Pickett on. Demons’ football boss Alan Richardson stated back in January that they were “really confident” the crafty forward would stay with them long-term, despite notable noise on his future last week.

With Gawn heading into the back end of his career, Jackson looms as an obvious replacement — as he once did before his initial move to Western Australia. And while Jackson has previously played as a tall forward at both clubs across his six-season AFL career, a solo ruck role would be far more likely at his original club than it is at Fremantle in the short-term.

“As Jackson has gotten bigger and older, I think he’s more suited to being a ruckman than a key forward,” Brereton explained.

So what should Fremantle’s stance be, as things stand?

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“If it’s purely a football decision, I think Fremantle really hold their ground. You’re a contracted player, we signed you because you wanted to come back — all that,” Lewis added.

“If they can assist him to make change off the field, then they’ll probably keep their man. But there’s (obviously) a desire for him to come home and get out of Perth.”

Brereton ended by saying: “If you’re a football club, the first thing you ask yourself is: ‘As long as we can maintain the salary cap in good fashion, keep your best players’.

“The ideal world would be keeping Jackson and getting Pickett! That’s what they would’ve been thinking until this news, if it’s absolutely true.”

With almost exactly five months still until the trade period begins, there is still so much water to go under the bridge with both Jackson and Pickett. Fremantle and Melbourne will be keeping all fingers crossed they can retain their respective star players, but if one opts to walk come October, you can bet your bottom dollar the other will be thrown into trade negotiations.

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