MICHAEL Barlow has signed a two-year contract extension with Fremantle to remain at the club until the end of the 2016 season.
 
The announcement was a nice present on his 26th birthday.
 
"I'm pretty excited about the contract extension," Barlow said.
 
"As soon as the club and my manager started to work through some options it didn't take too long to convince both parties to get the deal done."
 
Barlow had his best season at AFL level in 2013 after finally overcoming the broken leg he suffered in 2010.
 
Barlow averaged 26.5 disposals a game this season and polled a career-high 14 Brownlow votes. He was also phenomenal in the Dockers' qualifying final win over Geelong at Simonds Stadium, when he gathered 32 touches and kicked three goals.
 
"I think it was my most consistent [season]," Barlow said.
 
"I played two half years, my first two years, and then a full year but [was] still just starting to find my feet and find some form with the new coach and the new system coming in.
 
"In 2013 I think along with a lot of the other players we had really consistent years and that's what I really want to base myself on and be looked upon across the competition as a consistent player."
 
Barlow says he wants to add explosiveness to his play in 2014 but understands his limitations.
 
"For me it's just my ability to probably explode and be a bit quicker and a bit sharper out of contests," Barlow said.
 
"I'm never going to be a Patrick Dangerfield or a Chris Judd with their explosiveness but it's probably a deficiency in my game that I'm really going to work on over the summer and leading into the season as well as every aspect of the game including my foot skills which are getting better and better."
 
Fremantle player manager Brad Lloyd said Barlow had been a standard bearer for the playing group since joining the club as a mature age recruit.
 
"He has represented the club well in big games and shown enormous resilience to get through a major setback a few years ago to return and play quality football in recent seasons," Lloyd said.
 
"We are delighted to see him commit to the club until the end of the 2016 season."