One of the biggest stories of 2022 has taken another turn, with Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy revealing that he has reached out to Melbourne premiership ruckman Luke Jackson on the topic of his playing future.
When talking on Triple M, Darcy told listeners that he personally reached out to Jackson to check on how he was coping amidst all the discussion and speculation on his playing future.
"I just checked in on him mentally," Darcy said. "With everything going around. It‘s pretty tough on him. His name’s in the newspaper every day.
“I had a little bit last year when (reports said) I was desperate to leave. But that never came from me, that was more media making it up.”
However, he was quick to not comment where Jackson was playing his footy in 2023, with Darcy saying "I'll leave that to Peter Bell", referring to Fremantle General Manager.
Jackson's potential move across the Nullarbor to Fremantle has been one of the biggest stories ahead of the 2022 AFL trade period.
The premiership ruckman is yet to recommit to Melbourne officially, with much speculation Fremantle has offered Jackson a lucrative contract.
Fremantle is set to be one of the more active clubs in the 2022 AFL trade period, with key position player Rory Lobb, utility Griffin Logue and defender Nathan Wilson among a few names linked with a move away from Western Australia, with Fremantle potentially having to free up salary cap space to accommodate Jackson's sizeable contract.
When speaking on 3AW this week, Bell flagged the Dockers are confident in retaining Logue beyond this season.
“First of all, we absolutely want to keep ‘Griff’,” Bell said.
“He’s a big part of the group, a really popular player and he’s a big part of our plans moving forward.
“We’re in constant dialogue with his management and Griff himself.
“He’s absolutely within his rights as a player falling out of contract to have a look around. If he’s doing that then that’s his right.
“We think that we can put together a pretty compelling case for him to stay and for him to continue to improve his football.
“We hope that that’s exciting and compelling and we’re really confident that he’ll choose to stay with us and hopefully that’s the case.”
Jackson and the Demons will face Carlton this weekend as they look to strengthen their top four changes heading into finals.