Fremantle is eagerly awaiting Shai Bolton’s arrival after landing the former Tiger on the final day of the 2024 AFL Continental Tyres Trade Period.
The Club sealed the deal for Bolton in the early hours of trade deadline day and retained a first round draft pick.
Fremantle held selections 10, 11, 18 and 30 going into the final day and ended with picks 14, 30 and 67, along with the 25-year-old excitement machine.
Speaking on AFL Trade Radio, Fremantle Executive General Manager of Football Joe Brierty said the Club was delighted to get the Bolton deal done.
“We are really, really excited about Shai coming in the door and joining our Club,” Brierty said.
“What he will bring has been a priority for us in this trade period.
“To have the deal done is really pleasing for our Club, playing group, staff - but then also our members and fans because he is an exciting talent.
“Ultimately, we thought that two first round picks were appropriate for Shai.”
Head of Player Personnel David Walls shared Brierty’s sentiment, revealing on SEN WA on Thursday morning that Bolton would add a valuable piece to a playing list that is looking to challenge in the seasons to come.
“We got our man, heading in he was our number one priority because we think that he can immediately impact for us in an area of the ground that we desperately needed,” Walls said.
“I feel like we’ve been to the draft a lot. We’ve traded in Luke Jackson and Jordan Clark but we’ve had a hell of a lot of first round picks too over the last six or seven years and those guys are really coming into their prime.
“We’ve got the talls in Jackson, (Josh) Treacy and (Jye) Amiss that we think will be there for 10 years as our key pillars and then we’ve got (Sam) Switkowski and (Michael) Frederick. Throw Bolton in there and it makes it an incredibly dangerous forward line straight away.”
Fremantle will now enter the 2024 Telstra Draft Period that is set to begin on Wednesday 20 November with picks 14, 30, 67.
Walls confirmed that with the close of trades and the draft approaching, there may still be some player movement from within the Club.
“There may also be a few players that we move from the senior list to the rookie list. Overall, it’s not going to be a huge change this year for us which is nice,” said Walls.
“Pretty much everyone people saw out there for Freo last year will be back again and I feel like they will be back a lot better after another pre-season. You throw in Shai and a few new draftees, but overall, the turnover will be at its lowest for five or six years.
“We walk away from the trade with pick 14 in the draft, so we are still in a really good spot. We’ve got pick 30 as well, so we’ll have those two earlier picks and then one out the back.”
