Fremantle club champion Sean Darcy is laughing off speculation surrounding his future, saying he will be the first to welcome Melbourne ruckman Luke Jackson if he makes the switch to the Dockers.
While Fremantle has refused to speak publicly about Jackson, the Demons' big man is said to be weighing up a move back to his home state of WA, with reports suggesting the Dockers are in the box seat to recruit him.
Fremantle's interest in Jackson has prompted suggestions Darcy's future could lie elsewhere.
Port Adelaide premiership star Kane Cornes and former Docker Paul Hasleby were among those to suggest there wasn't enough room for both Jackson and Darcy at the club.
But as he prepares for his first finals match for the Dockers against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, Darcy says he sees his future at Fremantle, with or without Jackson.
"He's a super player, if he comes in we can work together and off we go," he said.
"If he comes he comes, if he doesn't he doesn't.
"It's his decision, it's a big decision … but at the end of the day he's a talented player, and we'd love to have him here."
Darcy loving life at Freo
Despite being contracted with the Dockers until the end of 2024, Victoria-raised Darcy has become used to hearing his name linked to a move away from the club.
"You sort of laugh when every now and then when your name gets brought up, but that's footy, that's media, that's speculation," he said.
"I'm really enjoying my life in Freo, I've got a house here and things like that.
"We've got a really good group of boys going, we're really close, and we really enjoy each other, in the club and outside the club.
"We've got a really young group, a really driven group at the moment that want to play finals footy, and want to win it all at the end of the day.
"It's really enjoyable, we're rocking up to the club every day just trying to get better, trying to improve, trying to get the best out of each other, so it's a really good environment to have at the moment."
Dockers looking to buck the trend
Fremantle's first finals appearance since 2015 has fans dreaming of a first premiership in the club's 28th season, but having fallen just half a game short of fourth spot at the end of the home and away season, the Dockers would have to defy the odds to go all the way.
Since 1998 just one club has won the premiership from outside the top four – the Bulldogs in 2016.
But Darcy says there's no reason they can't buck the trend.
"We've played some really good footy this year, we won 15-and-a-half games [15 wins and a draw], which was two points out of second.
"The competition in general is pretty even this year, the last few years have shown that a lot of teams outside the top four can make a swing at it.
"We've played some really good footy against some really good top eight teams, so at the end of the day we've got a lot of evidence to say that our system really works this year, so we've got a lot of confidence in ourselves."
Tall trio Rory Lobb, Griffin Logue and Matt Taberner all face fitness tests as they push to return to the side against the Bulldogs, with Fremantle's main training session to be held on Wednesday.
