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Melbourne key defender James Frawley could plug significant gaps at Fremantle or Geelong. Both sides bowed out of the finals in straight sets and look in danger of sliding out of premiership contention next season due to their dependence on ageing stars.
Could recruiting the All-Australian give them the ability to push for the flag in 2015? The clubs themselves obviously think so.
Free agent Frawley won’t come cheap. Recruiting such a player is a move made by clubs who believe their premiership window is open, or can be kept open as a result of the recruitment.
Frawley looks to be a good fit at Geelong, where his presence in defence would free up Harry Taylor to move forward.
Taylor has been the best key defender in the competition for the past few seasons. But he could provide greater value to the Cats as a strong-marking target up forward.
Few players read the ball through the air as well as Taylor, who is known to spend hours each week practising his overhead marking.
Combined with his vice-like grip this makes him an elite contested marker. Given the left footer is also a reliable kick for goal, he has all the tools to be a match-winning forward. He has underlined this during his brief stints in attack.
Taylor looks capable of kicking 50 to 60 goals a season from centre-half forward. Importantly, he would also draw defensive pressure away from Tom Hawkins who, as Geelong’s only dangerous tall forward, is consistently double teamed.
Hawkins and Taylor have the potential to be as good as any key forward combination in the country. The Cats were the second-lowest scoring side in the top six this year, and scored just four points more than the defensive-minded Fremantle during the regular season.
At times they were far too predictable, with Hawkins as the obvious focal point. Taylor’s ability to either lead hard or snare contested marks inside 50 metres would force the opposition’s back six to watch him closely.
That would surely open up greater opportunities for Hawkins to gain one-on-one contests, which are his greatest strength due to his phenomenal power.
Over at Fremantle, they would desperately love to do something similar and alleviate the defensive pressure heaped on their spearhead Matthew Pavlich. With Pavlich turning 34 years old next year, how much longer can he play while being mobbed by defenders at many contests?
He desperately needs a fellow power forward to share some of that burden. But is Frawley that man? Or would Fremantle be recruiting him instead as the successor to champion defender Luke McPharlin, who looks set to retire?
Frawley spent time as a permanent forward for the Demons this season but had fairly limited success, although playing in attack for a woeful side is never elementary. If picked up by the Dockers it seems more likely he would be stationed in the back half, where he made his name at Melbourne.
He looked on target to become one of the AFL’s elite defenders after earning All-Australian honours in 2010 as a 21-year-old. But his career has stagnated, particularly this year when he attracted considerable criticism from Demons fans and pundits.
Regardless, he is set to receive a huge pay packet thanks to free agency. Geelong have reportedly offered him a five-year contract worth about $2.5 million. Fremantle, who met with Frawley in Perth last weekend, are also believed to have presented him with a lucrative long-term deal.
Frawley may benefit from the move in more than just a financial sense. He is one of many players who have not developed at Melbourne in what is perhaps the worst playing environment in the AFL.
Should he return to his All-Australian form at Geelong or Fremantle it could revive the flag hopes of those ageing sides next season.