Matthew Lloyd believes Luke Jackson would fit into West Coast’s side more than he would at Fremantle.
The Melbourne ruckman on Monday officially handed in a trade request following months of speculation, telling the club of his intention to head back home to Western Australia.
While Fremantle has seemingly been in the box seat to secure his services for months, the Demons remain intent on dealing with both the Dockers and the Eagles to extract the best deal for their club.
Lloyd says that as a result of the emergence of ruckman Sean Darcy at Fremantle, Jackson’s skillset would be better served at the Eagles.
But he doubted whether Jackson would be keen on a move to West Coast as the club moves through a rebuild.
“(West Coast) makes more sense to me,” he said on AFL Trade Radio.
“I’ve been sitting back in the latter part of the year, initially I thought that (Fremantle) should just take him because he’s a fantastic player and you just work him into any team because of the value that he’ll bring.
“As I’ve watched Sean Darcy and as I’ve watched Luke Jackson struggle this year – he’s dropped a lot of marks and struggled to kick goals – I ask myself where he fits in at Fremantle and where he’s of the greatest value.
“Going to West Coast makes a lot of sense to me. Nic Naitanui is just about done and there’s no second ruckman at West Coast which is at the level of Luke Jackson.
“They have the picks to do it so to me, it makes more sense than the Dockers. But if I’m Luke Jackson, I’m not going to West Coast because they may not be playing finals for five or six years.”
West Coast currently holds picks 2, 20 and 26 in this year’s draft, while Fremantle’s first selection in November’s draft is pick 13.