ONE OF the most critical periods of player movement in Fremantle's history will launch on Monday as the club looks to turn the exit of up to five players into a win that could set up its first premiership.
The Dockers have done the hard work required to prepare a list that will soon be capable of striking in September, but there is a sense externally that their looming departures could be a step back.
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It doesn't have to be, however, and it probably won't be if the club plays its cards right and walks away with a key piece in a potential premiership team in place of players who have often fought for a position in the best 22.
The impacts of swingman Griffin Logue and wingman Blake Acres in 2022 should not be undersold, and their performances this season warrant the contracts now being offered to them by North Melbourne and Carlton respectively.
But it is also true that, like fellow wantaway Dockers Lloyd Meek and Darcy Tucker, neither was considered a lock in the Dockers' best 22 at the start of this season as they entered their sixth and ninth AFL seasons respectively.
Fremantle is capable of covering both in 2023 when it makes a push for its first premiership while avoiding matching contracts it wasn't initially prepared to offer.
Indeed, if recent trade periods and this year's green light for 'salary dumping' have underlined one thing, it is the importance of spending the salary cap responsibly.
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Where the Dockers may have erred, however, is in veering too far the other way with their early offers to Logue and Acres and opening the door for rival clubs to present significantly better contracts befitting their 2022 form.
Managing those departures, however, is not what makes this one of the most critical Trade Periods in Fremantle's history.
It should be seen that way because of what is available to it in Melbourne premiership ruckman Luke Jackson and the stand-off that looms with their best tall forward, Rory Lobb.
The Dockers view Jackson as a hybrid player who can play as a big-bodied midfielder while also floating forward and supporting Sean Darcy in the ruck.
While he could develop into the gamebreaker they need and a generational talent, Jackson can't yet contribute as a forward in the same way Lobb did in 2022, when he lead the team for goals (36) and marks inside 50 (average 2.3) and ranked second for score involvements (average 5.6).
FORWARD THINKING Dockers eye unique midfield role for Jackson
The Dockers have at this stage told Lobb he will be held to the final year of his contract, knowing his departure would put pressure on young key forwards Jy Amiss and Josh Treacy and potentially take away the ability to use Jackson how they would prefer.
It remains to be seen if their position shifts and, if it doesn't, how Lobb would handle a second consecutive year of being held to his contract after requesting a trade.
What is clear, however, is that once the straightforward trades are done in the opening days, the moves of Jackson and Lobb will become the key deals of the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period, and the two that will really shape Fremantle in 2023.
