Fremantle Executive General Manager of Football Joe Brierty has confirmed the Club’s interest in Richmond’s Liam Baker on AFL Trade Radio on Monday morning.
On Friday Hawthorn sent its much talked-about pick 14 to Carlton in exchange for Carlton’s future first and future second round draft picks, with the implications of this move opening the door for several clubs around the league.
“It (Friday’s pick swap) has potentially opened the door and we’ll consider what that looks like and have those discussions,” Brierty told AFL Trade Radio.
“From our perspective there has been ongoing discussions with Liam (Baker) over the journey, even dating back to his previous contract at Richmond.
“Our understanding is he still has a desire to get to West Coast and that’s the position they would like to achieve, and from our point of view, we’re respectful of that.
“As I said, it’s something that over a long period of time we’ve had ongoing discussions with him, and he suits our list and our profile.
We’re respectful there’s a fair bit to play out.”
Brierty also reaffirmed the Club’s interest in Shai Bolton, after Peter Bell confirmed a deal for the trade of Bolton had been made to Richmond last week.
“We look at the talent of Shai and the situation they’re in and we look at the consistency of the market and feel like the offer is really strong for him,” Brierty said.
“Ultimately, we need to be responsible as a Club and be balanced in our approach. We want to see Shai at our football Club but as it stands, we feel like there’s a really strong offer.
“Those conversations will continue to evolve, but that’s where it stands at the moment.”
Brierty also confirmed that two of Fremantle's key players were recovering well from injuries they received late in the season.
“Hayden Young had a minor fracture to his leg in the last game of the year and he’s going to kind of transition back to running over the coming weeks,” Brierty said.
“Sean Darcy was the one that obviously finished up with a few rounds to go in the year and had a bit of a clean out of the knee, and pleasingly he’s progressing well at this point in time.
“We probably don’t expect him to fully training before Christmas but we’d like to see him in full training in the new year.”
