Fremantle Executive General Manager Joe Brierty says the club has been super impressed by Jeremy Sharp since he joined the club from Gold Coast.
Sharp officially became a Docker on the opening day of the 2024 pre-season supplemental selection period last November after being delisted by the Suns.
While Sharp was cut by the Suns, he was long on Fremantle’s radar and came close to joining the club in the 2022 Trade Period.
As long admirers of the East Fremantle product, the Dockers were thrilled to add the hard-running wingman to their list and Brierty says the 21-year-old has settled back home really well.
With 23 AFL games to his name, Brierty is tipping the former second-round pick to excel on a wing on the open expanses of Optus Stadium.
“He (Sharp) has been great,” Brierty told SEN WA Breakfast.
“He's come in, he's a bona fide wingman.
“He’s obviously had some frustrations in his time at Gold Coast, but he gives us that penetration and bounce off one of our wings, which is great to have.
“Again, it’s bringing competition for spots with the likes of (Nathan) O’Driscoll and (Heath) Chapman moving on to a wing as well.
“We've been really, really pleased with how ‘Sharpy’ has settled into our group and our mix and the way in which he's gone about it.
“He's been an ultimate professional and he's fitting in in terms of his personality and he enjoys himself, he has a laugh and he's been a fantastic addition to the club.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the impact that he can have on especially venues like Optus Stadium to get on that wing and really take the game on.”
After finishing fifth in 2022, the Dockers slid to 14th in 2023 and Brierty says the club has tried to rectify that free fall this pre-season.
Brierty says the Dockers have tried to solve their woes by focusing more on their inside contest work with consistency the key ahead of the 2024 campaign.
“We’ve had a real focus on contests, we feel like we’re really strong inside the contest,” Brierty said.
“It gives us the best opportunity in controlling the ball in our forward half, so that's a big focus for our group and the competition for spots there at the moment is really exciting to watch in pre-season.
“There's probably eight or nine blokes that are fighting for a spot in that starting midfield.
“It starts at the source and Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy for us can be really damaging players, so that would be a key element.
“We feel like there's some aspects we'll work on. But for us as a group, it's really going to come to our consistency.
“The back six weeks of the year were really strong, but there was a block of time during the end of the year where we weren't as consistent as we would have liked.
“So, consistency across the board for the entire year will be a real focus.”
Fremantle open their 2024 campaign with a Round 1 clash against Brisbane at Optus Stadium on Sunday, March 17.
