Fremantle great Paul Hasleby is excited about Nat Fyfe’s touted full-time move back into the Dockers’ midfield for the 2024 season.
The 32-year-old has played just 31 games across the last three seasons as he’s struggled with injuries as he’s also been made to split his time on-ball and up forward.
Having excelled most as an inside footballer throughout his 218 career games, winning Brownlow Medals in both 2015 and 2019 in the role, Fremantle have committed to putting the veteran back to where he does his best in 2024.
Fans got their first sighting of the last few years of Fyfe the full-time midfielder in the scratch match against West Coast as he was best afield until half-time when he was subbed out of the game.
Hasleby thinks it could be a ‘return of the King’ for Fyfe and expects the all-time great to have a big impact at the coalface as he reaches peak fitness.
“It could be the return of the King Fyfe from what we saw,” Hasleby said on SEN WA The Run Home.
“They are really talking him up that he's back to his best.
“Players that probably have been there three years, they haven't seen this sort of Nathan Fyfe at this sort of fitness level.
“I think the next part is his confidence in his mind. I remember listening to him last year a couple of times and he was speaking about, ‘Oh, I’m going to have to fit into the midfield’, and that, ‘A lot has changed’.
“I could tell that he didn't have the confidence going back into that team. It wasn’t his team. But this is completely different.
“This is him starting in the middle, competing with Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw and he could be better than both of those two this year.
“That's a big call given where he was, but this is a two-time Brownlow Medallist who now believes that he belongs back in that midfield and believes that he can be the best or a top 10 player in the competition once again.”
While Hasleby conceded that Fyfe is only one serious injury away from all of the hype to dissipate, he’s excited about the depth that the Dockers now have with their midfield rotation thanks to the inclusion of the veteran’s services.
“The key is he's still got to get through,” Hasleby said.
“He’s one significant injury - like most players - away from it all changing pretty quickly for his fortunes, but also that of the Fremantle Dockers.
“But one thing did stand out to me, it's the depth of the midfield that they do have with him back in there.
“Serong was brilliant. Brayshaw got pushed to the wing a little bit … Matthew Johnson got some inside time. Jaeger O’Meara played and he's back in full fitness.
“Now, (Neil) Erasmus came on in the second half and I thought his work was really tidy and he's going to be unlucky if he does miss out if, in fact, it is him.
“Nathan O’Driscoll played on the wing and Will Brodie came on as well as the game unfolded.
“Jeremy Sharp missed the opportunity to play and I think he could regret that he was ill. You can't control that, but these are the games that you need to get in to show what you can do because I know Justin Longmuir is going to have a big call on those wing positions.
“It's a good problem to have, but they do have some depth and that was probably the difference in the game.”
Fyfe and the Dockers get one final tune-up on Friday night when they face Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval in the AAMI Community Series.
They begin their season officially with a Round 1 clash against Brisbane at Optus Stadium on Sunday, March 17.
