Fremantle could be forced into a player exodus as they plan to set aside finances to lure Demons young gun Luke Jackson back home.
The Dockers are looming as a key piece in the off-season player market, having been tied to several out-of-contract players while personnel within their own club have been linked to the exit this year.
No name will be bigger than Jackson's, with the 20-year-old yet to recommit to Melbourne for 2023 as he weighs up a return to Western Australia with Fremantle.
To lure the premiership tall away from Victoria the Dockers are likely to hand Jackson a lucrative pay packet on a long-term deal, a move that may force a handful of senior names out of Cockburn.
Ruck-forward Rory Lobb is understood to be gaining interest from club's on the east coast despite being contracted until the end of next year, while out-of-contract trio Blake Acres, Connor Blakely and Griffin Logue are among those yet to sign-on past this season.
With the Bulldogs and Saints among those chasing Lobb's services, reporter Kim Hagdorn told SEN WA that the 29-year-old is destined to depart the Dockers for next year amid a clearout at the club.
“Let’s stop beating around the bush, Rory Lobb has got a four-year deal at the Western Bulldogs,” Hagdorn said.
“I said last Monday that Essendon had joined the race. Rule that out.
“St Kilda are still keen to try and talk more with Rory Lobb’s management.
“He’ll be going because he has to go. He is a massive part of the strategy for Fremantle to clear enough players and enough salary to get Luke Jackson.”
Acres is believed to be assessing his options for his next contract, with his future at Fremantle no certainty despite a stellar 2022 campaign in purple.
Dockers football boss Peter Bell revealed on ABC Radio last week that Acres had been tabled a new deal, with the WA club hopeful he'll re-sign.
Hagdorn noted that the offers Acres may be attracting from rival clubs will be north of the Dockers' proposal, with the former Saint among a handful of Fremantle players potentially on the outer as the club moves for Jackson.
“I saw some comment over the weekend from football manager Peter Bell,” Hagdorn said.
“Nothing said he’s staying, nothing was strong. It was all, ‘we’re in dialogue, we love him, he loves the club’. Well, we know all that, they’re statements of fact.
“He is very much on the market. A lot of interest in Blake Acres in the east on three and four-year deals at better money than what Fremantle are offering for one year.
“He (Acres) is likely to move, Logue very likely to move, Hamling will go, Mundy has to go and Connor Blakely has to go, he’s out of contract.
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“That makes the money for Jackson’s $1.2 to 1.4 million a year for eight years.”
Players James Aish, Bailey Banfield, Sam Sturt, Mitch Crowden, Joel Western, Nathan Wilson, and Sebit Kuek are also among those unsigned for next season at Fremantle.
