Melbourne forward Bayley Fritsch has signed a new contract extension with the premiers, now locking in his services to the Demons until the end of the 2026 season.
A career-best campaign in 2021 saw Fritsch boot 59 goals from his 24 games in the red and blue, highlighted by a six-goal performance in the Demons' drought-breaking grand final victory.
Fritsch's journey to the summit comes after winning the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal as the VFL's most promising player in 2017 with Casey, where he was soon drafted to Melbourne later that year.
The 24-year-old has since played 85 games at AFL level, winning the Demons' club leading goalkicker award the past two seasons to bring his total goals tally to 118.
โWe are delighted to secure the services of Bayley, who has led our goal Kicking tally for the past two seasons, with this new deal," Demons list manager Tim Lamb said on Fritsch's new deal.
โAs a club we are thrilled that Bayley has committed long-term and is he is determined to help Melbourne achieve sustained success.
โHe has worked incredibly hard on his game since arriving at the club and is much loved and respected by his teammates and staff alike.โ
Fritsch was originally contracted until the end of the 2022 season after re-signing in October last year, with the Coldstream product rewarded with a long-term extension following a stellar 2021 campaign.
The versatile forward joins an elite list of re-signings at the Demons this year, with the likes of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Max Gawn, Jake Lever and Christian Salem headline the club's season of retentions.
