Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir won't share publicly whether the club has met with Richmond star and speculated off-season mover Liam Bakerย but admits that they would be interested in making a move to acquire him at season's end.
Discussions over the out-of-contract premiership Tiger have circled the news for most of the year, Baker hailing from Western Australia and looking very likely to undergo a change of scenery in 2025.
"If Liam wanted to come home, we'd be interested in talking to him and having him," Longmuir said on Friday ahead of the Dockers' clash with Melbourne.
"He's a really good player, had a lot of experience in the system, won flags."
"Yeah, we'd be interested but we're not going to stand here and talk about whether we've met him or not, he's a contracted player at another club."
"What will be at the end of the year will be."
"If Liam is willing to come home we'll be an interested party"@freodockers coach Justin Longmuir addressed the reports of Andrew Brayshaw and Caleb Serong meeting with Richmond's Liam Baker. #AFL #foreverfreo @TimGossage @SENWestAus pic.twitter.com/Dgd9M75wdg
— SEN WA Breakfast (@SENWABreakfast) July 19, 2024
Shai Bolton is another Tiger hailing from Western Australia who was discussed as a potential trade target but remains contracted with Richmond and seemingly untouchable in the view of the club.
Longmuir was asked whether a system that is more open to mid-year meetups between players and rival clubs should be employed, an idea the Docker coach doesn't seem in favour of for now.
"It doesn't really matter what I want, they're the rules," he added.
"I don't think we're ready for it as an industry."
Ahead of Sunday's meeting with Melbourne, a rematch of their 92-point obliteration earlier in the year, Longmuir confirmed how the lineup will look, with veteran excitement package Michael Walters set to play the sub role yet again.
"Yeah he is going to be the sub again... we're going to back in our seven forwards that played last week."
"We think Sonny gives us the best opportunity to win this game as sub. When he's been sub, maybe last week excluded, he's had an impact.
"You want to be able to bring someone on who can have an impact and preferably have an impact in the front half."
Walters' omission from the starting side speaks to the welcome selection headaches facing Longmuir and the Dockers' staff, with plenty of troops set to be included should their time arrive.
"There'd be 10 guys that miss out this week that could easily come in and fill a role."
"(Josh) Draper misses out this week, but he's in really good form and the message to him was to stay ready."
"He's shown that he can play really good footy at AFL level (but) he gets squeezed out by the captain."
Freo could rise back into the top four with a home win over Melbourne this Sunday, elevating their chances of the desired double-chance come September.
