RETIRING Fremantle forward Sam Switkowski has pledged to leave everything on the field as he looks to extend his career by another week and open the possibility of a fairytale farewell in a Grand Final. 

Switkowski announced last month that 2026 would be his final season in a family-driven decision, with the heart and soul leader and his wife Savannah expecting their first child and preparing to return home to Victoria. 

After missing the Dockers' finals campaign in 2025, Switkowski has played both finals this year and said it was a privilege to finish his career during a September run, and one that he wouldn't waste. 

"I try and leave it all out there every game of my career, and I'll absolutely be emptying the tank again," Switkowski told AFL.com.au. 

"I love this club and I'm absolutely stoked to be able to show up again and give it another crack. 

"It means a lot and it's kind of hard to put it into words. I'm not going to let this finals series define anything to do with my career or my satisfaction in retirement, but every game that I get to play is a privilege.

"All year I've been staying really present and trying to enjoy every moment, and I get to do that for another week, which is awesome."

Switkowski remains a leader at Fremantle and a crucial player when it comes to on-field communication and connecting the midfielders and forwards, and his value has been on display this September through his ability to stay composed with the ball and then pressure opponents without it. 

Coach Justin Longmuir revealed that he had used Switkowski's career to motivate his players and inspire them to channel the reliability that has defined the clever forward's 129-game career. 

"In the lead-up, we spoke about being reliable, not remarkable (and) I spoke about 'Switta' and how he's probably the most reliable player that I've ever coached," Longmuir said. 

"We spoke about that in the lead-up [to the Geelong game] and we wanted to be reliable and reliable to each other."  

Switkowski himself said there had been valuable lessons learned between Freo's loss to Hawthorn and semi-final win against Geelong. 

The group rebounded to play the brave and attacking brand it has honed this year, while also convincing itself that one disappointing finals performance would not define the team. 

"I think it's growth over a number of years, but we just have so much trust within ourselves and belief," Switkowski said. 

"Most games this year when we've maybe not put our best foot forward, we've responded really well, so I was really confident that we would play our way against Geelong. 

"We earned a second chance and we just had to go out there and play our brand of footy. Now we're into a preliminary final.

"It takes a lot of courage out there to take the game on, but there's enough evidence from this year that we've done it really well. 

"That one game doesn't define us." 

Fremantle will now take significant belief into its first preliminary final since 2015, Switkowski said, after winning its first final since 2022. 

That belief has more to do with what has been built over several years, however, and particularly through a stunning home and away season that included a club-record 19 wins.

"It hasn't wavered all year, regardless of our result [against Hawthorn]," he said. 

"We're going there to bring our brand again, leave nothing out there, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do."