FREMANTLE'S deeper and more dynamic midfield shapes as a weapon in 2026 as well as an insurance policy as the team prepares to enter round one with all of its midfield stars available.

The Dockers have remained incredibly steady with their line-up from 2025 to 2026, losing none of their key players from last season while adding defender Judd McVee from Melbourne in a targeted move that boosts their ball movement. 

It's the internal tweaks with existing players, however, that shape as the key to Fremantle jumping from a beaten elimination finalist to a Grand Finalist this year, starting with a challenging clash against Geelong. 

In no particular order of importance, athletic ruckman Luke Jackson has moved into a midfield role, half-forward Murphy Reid has built an onball engine and trained there, and dynamic goalkicker Shai Bolton has split his time midfield and forward. 

Add much-improved wingers Neil Erasmus and Corey Wagner to the onball rotation, as well as strong-bodied 22-year-old Matt Johnson, and suddenly the Dockers' engine room is looking much deeper this year. 

The reason for the shift is two-fold: the Dockers can't rely on their three midfield stars to have full seasons and not have players trained up and ready to cover injury, as illustrated by the drop-off last year when Hayden Young was restricted to nine games. 

Young overcame lower leg soreness this week and is expected to take on the Cats, but the Dockers need reinforcements when any of their big three are unavailable.  

They also need to move with the competition strategically as club's build deeper midfields and target fast centre clearances under new ruck rules in the middle of the ground. 

Opening Round saw teams use an average of 9.4 players at centre ball-ups per game, with Collingwood using a round-high 12, and Greater Western Sydney trailing the rest of the teams involved with seven. 

While not specifically related to centre ball-ups, Sydney showed what was possible with fast, fresh and dynamic midfielders when it turned the game against Carlton during the third quarter, primarily through star runner Errol Gulden. 

While only in his second year and with significant growth in his game, it is easy to see Reid playing a similar role through the midfield this season with his ability to work from half-back to half-forward and get his hands on the ball multiple times during chains of possession. 

He is already the Dockers' best forward-half ball-user and now has the physical attributes to spend longer periods competing in the midfield. 

Then there is the uncertainty that Fremantle's midfield additions create, giving them the versatility to constantly change at centre bounces and around-the-ground stoppages with a large group of players that can change between midfield and forward roles.  

Serong is a top-three clearance winner in the AFL, but he is also a proven contest winner in the front half, while Young has shown an ability to lead up as a deep forward and trouble defenders. Both have rotated forward through the pre-season to create space in the midfield. 

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The Dockers have used trading well to improve their ceiling in recent years, and that could well be the case again in 2026 if McVee finds his feet quickly in defence and adds more speed to their ball movement. 

The midfield tweaks and a new set of onball weapons shape as the most critical factor, however, in the Dockers making a big step forward in 2026.