Soon to be Father Brennan Cox is relishing at the challenge of stepping up his leadership role down back with the expected move out of defence for Hayden Young and Heath Chapman.

Fresh off his long-term contract extension, Cox is excited about the direction of the club going into the 2024 season.

Cox and his partner Keah are expecting the birth of their first child during Fremantle’s round two matchup against North Melbourne.

“Really excited to be at the club, Sean (Darcy) as well with that long deal, we were drafted together and I’m really confident where the club is heading,” Cox said.

“I feel like we can win a flag… the group is really driven, obviously a lot of the boys are signed for a lot of years and we’re still really young. 

“We’ll get a lot of time to play together through these years and hopefully improve on what has been a bit of growth these past few years.”

Cox is confident the team is coming into the new season in better condition than last year.

“I feel like before Christmas we had a really good block of training where we really brought the intensity, and that’s something we’ve continued since returning from the break,” Cox said.

“The boys have come out firing, and we just want to get better.

“I feel like it will get harder and harder, but the boys will get benefit from that. I feel like we are a lot fitter than we were last year at this time.”

Cox has looked at fellow father and teammate Michael Walters as inspiration as he looks to step up his leadership role down back. 

“Sonny (Michael Walters) is a good one to look at because he had a bit of trouble early days when he first got drafted to the club, and having his kids really gave him meaning past his footy career,” Cox said.

“Something I’ve been trying to work on is being a bit more of a leader as a Backman to help out Moosey (Alex Pearce) and Lukey (Luke Ryan) who do it really well.”

Cox said it is sad to see fellow Backman Hayden Young and Heath Chapman move further up the ground but is excited to see what their new roles in the midfield and wing could offer. 

“It’s sad to lose him (Hayden Young), but Moose has been saying the more backs we can get up around the ground the better,” Cox said.

“I think Chappy will move to the wing also, so sad to lose him as well, but his run on the outside and his length as a player will make him really damaging out on the wing.”