Fremantle had an absolutely amazing season, making the grand final was way above expectations.
But there was one obvious weakness in the Dockers line-up, a lack of a second key forward to help (and eventually replace) Matthew Pavlich. Chris Mayne is great as a third forward target but isn’t big and strong enough to play centre half forward.
Fremantle need a key forward desperately, it is the missing piece to the premiership puzzle.
With Lance Franklin’s amazing move to the Swans, an opportunity has presented itself for Freo. Sam Reid is an up and coming talent that may be starved of opportunity at the Sydney Swans due to them already having Kurt Tippett and Franklin in the forward line.
Fremantle should target Reid, he is 22 years of age, so he still has around 10 years left to play, and should be reaching his prime in the next two years, which is the Dockers premiership window.
The move would be good for Reid as well, he would get more opportunity, a chance at another Premiership and an opportunity to learn from one of the best coaches Ross Lyon and one of the greatest forwards Matthew Pavlich.
Sydney would also be very well compensated, with Shane Mumford leaving, in return the Swans could grab either Zac Clarke or Jonathan Griffin who have both performed very well this year and they could get a good quality young player such as Cameron Sutcliffe or Viv Michie.
They could also get a draft pick as well.
The move would be a win win for both clubs as the Swans only have one ruckman and could increase there depth and the Dockers could get the key forward they are desperate for.
Freo and Sydney should try very hard to make this happen
John Fedec
Guest
WAIT a minute you think that having 29 shots on goal against the "BEST" team in the last 2 seasons is bad ?? if Fremantle kick straight, they WIN easy !! Ross is the BOSS FLAGS in 2014-2016 ...COMING
bill
Guest
Ross Lyon, one of the best coaches? Ask St Kilda how that's working for them now. He murdered their list for the next five years. All those Ross the Boss decisions to recruit mature player while 'in the window'. Win /Loss looks good on Ross's resume its the poor bugger who comes along after him.
Balthazar
Guest
On the same basis that Clarke is a "back up ruckman", Reid is only a "third tall". Pretty silly as they are both young and Clarke will certainly be No. 1 ruckman before long. As for Sutty, he is good enough to be top 22 in a side that played in the grand final so not entirely unproven. Not that I would do that trade anyway. Freo won't throw everything at Reid - nor would any other established team, assuming he wanted to leave - because he can't prove his fitness.
Ronny
Roar Rookie
Reid could quite easily slip into MacPharlins spot
Troy Murray
Roar Rookie
"The move would be good for Reid as well, he would get more opportunity, a chance at another Premiership and an opportunity to learn from one of the best coaches Ross Lyon and one of the greatest forwards Matthew Pavlich" Does he not have another chance at a premiership at the Swans, particularly given the Franklin signing. His current coach is John Longmire, easily the equal of Ross Lyon. And at the Swans he can learn from experienced forwards Franklin, Tippett and Goodes. Surely they out trump one Matthew Pavlich. Therefore the argument that the move would be good for Reid makes no sense whatsoever. Oh and Longmire said he is not for sale in any case.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Sydney have already stated that Reid will stay and, given he has a long-term deal, Fremantle would need to offer something above market value for it to happen. A back up ruckman, unproven youngster and a draft pick that won't be that high due to where Freo finished simply won't get it done, given that the Swans don't want or need to trade Reid out.
Balthazar
Guest
Both have great potential. Whether it will ever be realised is the issue. Reid has never scored more than 31 goals in a season, which is not a particularly high number, and he is only a year younger than Zac. He is not better than Zac now and I reckon Freo would back Zac in as the better player over the next few years. Aside from a hiccup for the first part of this year, he's not generally injury prone (he held the ruck together admirably when neither Sandi nor Griffin was available for a significant part of the year) and he has only started in 2013 to put on the bulk he needs to play his role. And to the OP there's no way that Reid is worth Zac and Sutty. Sutty is 20 and he will be a very good player for Freo.
Ian
Guest
If Sam Reid leaves Sydney he should be heading to the Westpac centre to join his brother. The Reid brothers at CHB or CHF would be a real bonus for the Pies and they have the first round picks to make the deal happen. Side by Side.
Winston
Guest
Didn't Reid sign a 5 year deal only last year or the year before? If that's the case, he might as well give it another year at Sydney and see how he goes first. If in 2014 he indeed is starved of opportunities he can ask to be traded next year. Otherwise I don't see why he would rob himself of his sweet 5 year deal now - that would be a knee jerk reaction. Besides, I think he is better than clarke at least in terms of potential. He hasn't been his best this year, but if he can find the consistency required, he can be a real force.
Balthazar
Guest
I think Freo has given up on Reid. The club may make a play for Podsiadly as a stop gap measure while they continue to put games into Matt Taberner. The club seems to really like Matty but he is still built like a matchstick. It's also interesting that the players they have been targetting have been Colin Sylvia and Xavier Ellis, which suggests they think the interchange cap means that quick, goal scoring midfielders are the way to go. I would be opposed to letting go of Clarke for Reid. People forget Clarke is only 23, very young for a ruckman. A poor showing in the GF aside, he is an athletic freak and if he continues his rate of improvement he could foreseeably be a dominant ruck for years to come. Reid is good but I don't think he's worth Zac, given his history of injuries. Would still love Reid in purple but such is life. As for Griffin, before he went down with a knee injury this year, he showed better forward line potential than our other talls (Pav aside). He bleeds purple (and returned to Perth for family reasons) and I suspect he will be used as a ruckman/forward when he recovers from his significant injury. I still can't see 3 talls being effective for Sydney but that's for them to sort out.
Steve
Guest
Yeah this isn't going to happen. Straight from the Horse's mouth at the presser yesterday, Reid is staying and going to be part of the forward line alongside Franklin and Tippett. Sydney tried the three talls up forward this year and hopefully next year with Reid taking the third defender instead of the best, it works better.