AFL trade news: Dockers trio tipped to request moves to Victorian clubs

Former Fremantle assistant Peter Sumich has the latest trade whispers at the club, including a rival rising star they could go hard for 👀

Ben Cotton

FORMER EDITOR | April 7, 2021 - 3:47pm

Ex-Dockers assistant coach Peter Sumich believes Victorian trio Adam Cerra, Sean Darcy and Darcy Tucker will all request trades home.

Sumich expressed his concerns over the trio staying in Western Australia if the club's fortunes don't turn around soon, having not featured in finals since 2015.

Cerra is coming off a career-best 2020 season where he averaged 17.4 disposal from 17 games with increased midfield opportunities.

Set to come out of contract at season's end, Cerra in March reportedly turned down a four-year extension, instead entertaining a shorter deal to assess the cub's direction.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - MAY 27: Adam Cerra of the Dockers gets his kick away under pressure during the round 10 AFL match between the Fremantle Dockers and the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Optus Stadium on May 27, 2018 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

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Speaking on SportFM, Sumich believes Cerra is Victoria-bound, while fellow off-contract midfielder Tucker is set to request a move to Geelong.

“I reckon Adam Cerra is going to go home. He hasn’t signed yet, he’s a Victorian, he’s looking at Fremantle going, ‘Are they the team that’s going to play finals or win a premiership?’ Right not he’s probably going not really,” Sumich said.

“Fyfe is going to retire in two or three years time, Mundy at the end of the year, where does that leave it? They haven’t really got bookends you’d say are going to win them a premiership. He’s bound to go home.

“I’m hearing Darcy Tucker wants to go to Geelong and Darcy the ruckman, Geelong are chasing him. All these Victorians are going to want to go home and we’ve got WA products that keep going out of our state.”

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JULY 02: Sean Darcy of the Dockers and Billy Longer of the Saints contest the ruck during the round 15 AFL match between the Fremantle Dockers and the St Kilda Saints at Domain Stadium on July 2, 2017 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Sumich is hearing whispers that Darcy, who was drafted out of the Geelong Falcons in 2016, is also keen to get to the Cats.

Darcy, who is contracted until 2022, has struggled to establish himself as Fremantle's No. 1 ruckman since joining the club, currently sharing duties with Lloyd Meek.

If Darcy requests a trade, Sumich thinks the Dockers should go hard after Western Australian Bulldogs rising star Tim English, who is also off-contract in 2022.

MACKAY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 03: Tim English of the Bulldogs contests the ball with Jarrod Witts of the Suns during the 2019 JLT Community Series AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Western Bulldogs at Great Barrier Reef Arena on March 03, 2019 in Mackay, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

English is coming off his own breakout 2020 season - where he averaged 13.4 disposals, 4.3 marks and 16 hitouts from 18 matches - to emerge as arguably the most promising young ruckman in the game.

“I’m hearing big time he (Darcy) wants to go back to Geelong,” he said.

“If that’s the case, they should put all their eggs in one basket there and try to get Tim English. I don’t know if Tim will want to come because at the end of the day he’s at a club that’s going really well.

“You think they’re going to go well for the next two or three years, they might pinch another premiership like they did in ‘16. He’s probably going ‘I want to stay here. It’s a club that’s a winning club and that’s where I want to stay’.

“I think Fremantle’s got to go hard at him and hopefully they can pinch him. Money talks, but it’s not everything. Premierships in my opinion are the way to go.”