Fremantle Football Club's drafting and trading history is often cited as a reason for their poor on-field record; the club took eight years to reach a final, and won their first final in 2006. In recent years, however, they have been successful in finding good players with late round and rookie list selections, with very few father-son, free agent or academy selections.
Recruiting staff Phil Smart was the recruiting manager at Fremantle from when they were formed in 1994 until 2008, remaining at the club until the end of 2009 as their draft manager.Beacham, Digby (3 September 2009) Trade option last Drum roll at Dockers , The West Australian Smart was the Claremont Football Club colts (under 19) coach in 1994, and wasn't appointed until near the end of the 1994 WAFL season on 1 September 1994, just 2 months before the team started training. He had also never seen a game outside WA, something that would factor in the trade of future Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee Andrew McLeod to Adelaide, considered one of the worst trades the Dockers have ever made. Brad Lloyd replaced Smart as the national recruitment manager, until he resigned in 2018 to join Carlton. Mark Micallef held the job for only a single year before David Walls took over in 2020.
1994/95 off season Fremantle's initial squad of 50 players was compiled from a mixture of uncontracted players from other AFL clubs (maximum of 12 over two years), players who had previously nominated for the AFL draft but not been selected (unlimited from the WAFL, two each from the SANFL, VFL and TFL), up to ten delisted AFL players, trades with any other AFL club, unlimited selections from their four "aligned" WAFL clubs and selections 1, 4 and then the first two selections in each round of the 1994 AFL draft.
The McLeod trade Fremantle had flown the 18-year-old McLeod and his father to Perth for an interview, but none of the coaching or recruiting staff had actually seen him play, despite McLeod having played in a premiership for Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) a few weeks earlier.
McLeod was puzzled and insulted when Fremantle coach Gerard Neesham asked him to stand up to see how tall he was. The result of this short meeting was that he was traded to Adelaide in return for promising centre half-forward Chris Groom, who they also hadn't see play. McLeod went on to play over 300 games, whilst Groom played only seven for Fremantle before being delisted at the end of the 1995 season.
Fremantle made similar trades with Melbourne to obtain Phil Gilbert and North Melbourne to obtain Troy Polak, trading away Jeff Farmer and Glenn Freeborn respectively.
Uncontracted players
Attracting uncontracted players from other AFL clubs would prove to be very difficult, except for some West Australian players willing to move back to Perth. The AFL also awarded compensation selections to any club that lost a player to Fremantle, of a 16-year-old player, which had the effect of reducing the available talent in the following year's draft, with Fremantle the only club who would be unable to recruit these 16-year-old players.
Prior to the 1994 draft, Fremantle arranged a deal with Essendon where they would recruit three players, all originally from Western Australia, and agree not to recruit any uncontracted players from any team that finished below Essendon in 1994. This would ensure that Essendon would have the first choice of the 16-year-olds in the compensation draft. Officially Todd Ridley was recruited as the uncontracted player, with Tony Delaney and Dale Kickett being traded for later picks. Whilst Kickett had a long and distinguished career at Fremantle, becoming the first player to play 100 games for the club and winning the Doig Medal in 1997, Delaney and Ridley weren't as successful. Essendon, however, recruited Matthew Lloyd with the 16-year-old compensation selection and Scott Lucas with the 4th selection, who would each play 270 games and kick a combined total of 1397 goals.
Fremantle also recruited its inaugural captain, Ben Allan and three of their first four best and fairest award winners, Peter Mann, Stephen O'Reilly and Jason Norrish through the uncontracted player process. Only one of the uncontracted players recruited, Andrew Wills, was not originally from Western Australia. In contrast to the outstanding career of Lloyd, the careers of the other compensation selections was mixed. Whilst West Coast's Chad Morrison and Geelong's Steven King had long and successful careers, and North Melbourne's Stuart Cochrane and Geelong's Adam Houlihan each played around 100 AFL games, Hawthorn's selection of David McEwan didn't play an AFL game and Melbourne's David Cockatoo-Collins only played two games.
Traded to Fremantle Dale Kickett (Essendon) for selection #39 Tony Delaney (Essendon) for selection #4 Phil Gilbert (Melbourne) for Jeff Farmer Chris Groom (Adelaide) for Andrew McLeod Scott Watters (Sydney) for selection #21 Troy Polak (North Melbourne) for Glenn Freeborn and selection #55 Pick 42 for Darryl Wakelin (St Kilda)
1994 National draft: 1: Jeff White (Southern U18) 22: Winston Abraham (Perth) 42: Douglas Headland (Perth) 56: Ryan Smith (West Perth) 72: Dean Grainger (Northern U18) 73: Sam McFarlane (Subiaco)
Pre-season draft: 2: Greg Madigan (Hawthorn)
Pre-draft selections: Daniel Bandy (Perth) Jay Burton (Subiaco) Brad Cassidy (Ballarat Rebels) Antony Ljubic (Gippsland Power) Neil Mildenhall (West Perth) Peter Miller (East Perth) Nathan Mourish (Perth) David Muir (North Melbourne) Craig Nettelbeck (Sydney) Shane Parker (Subiaco) Luke Toia (Subiaco)
Foundation Selections Peter Bell (South Fremantle) Craig Burrows (East Fremantle) Matthew Burton (Subiaco) Craig Callaghan (Swan Districts) Darren Capewell (East Fremantle) Scott Chisholm (Claremont) Gary Dhurrkay (East Fremantle) Scott Edwards (Claremont) Mark Gale (Claremont) Scott Gooch (Subiaco) Anthony Jones (Claremont) Quenton Leach (Claremont) Andrew McGovern (Claremont) Shaun McManus (East Fremantle) Jamie Merillo (Claremont) Brendon Retzlaff (Swan Districts) Leigh Wardell-Johnson (Claremont) Brad Wira (Claremont)
Zone selections: Travis Edmonds (Swan Districts) Kingsley Hunter (Claremont) John Hutton (Claremont) Todd Menegola(Swan Districts) Clinton Wolf (Claremont)
Uncontracted player selections: Todd Ridley (Essendon): compensation selection - Matthew Lloyd Ben Allan (Hawthorn): compensation selection - David McEwan Jason Norrish (Melbourne): compensation selection - David Cockatoo-Collins Peter Mann (North Melbourne): compensation selection - Stuart Cochrane Andrew Wills (Geelong): compensation selection - Adam Houlihan Brendan Krummel (West Coast): compensation selection - Chad Morrison Stephen O'Reilly (Geelong): compensation selection - Steven King
Delisted before season started: Dean Grainger Douglas Headland Sam McFarlane Troy Polak
1995/96 off season
Traded to Fremantle David Hynes (West Coast) for Phillip Matera and selection #3 1995 National draft: 1: Clive Waterhouse (Port Adelaide) 7: Ben Edwards (Claremont) 13: Brad Rowe (Collingwood) 23: Jay Burton (redrafted) Pre-draft selection: Daniel Parker (Subiaco) Zone selections: James Clement (South Fremantle) Steven Koops (West Perth) Trent Carroll (Claremont) Greg Harding (Claremont) Gavin Mitchell (Claremont) Michael Brown (Swan Districts) Michael Clark (Swan Districts) Brendon Feddema (East Fremantle) Martin Whitelaw (West Perth) Pre-season draft (uncontracted player selection): Tony Godden (West Coast): compensation selection: David Wirrpanda
Delisted Peter Bell Jay Burton (was delisted and then redrafted in the national draft) Darren Capewell Brad Cassidy Travis Edmonds Ben Edwards (was drafted and then delisted in the same off-season) Chris Groom John Hutton Brendan Krummel Antony Ljubic Todd Menegola Neil Mildenhall Peter Miller Nathan Mourish Craig Nettelbeck Brendon Retzlaff Ryan Smith Leigh Wardell-Johnson Clinton Wolf Traded Away Brad Wira for selection #13
1996/97 off season
1996 National draft: 12: Heath Black (Oakleigh Chargers) 31: Jess Sinclair (Eastern Ranges) 46: Matthew Clucas (East Fremantle) Rookie draft: 4: Cameron Venables (Subiaco) 19: Matthew Richter (Claremont) 34: Rupert Betheras (East Perth) 49: Scott Gooch (redrafted) 64: Gavin Milentis (Claremont)
Retired Scott Edwards Delisted: Phil Gilbert Todd Ridley Brad Rowe David Muir Jay Burton Scott Gooch (was redrafted in the rookie draft)
1997/98 off season
Traded to Fremantle Adrian Fletcher (Brisbane Lions) with selection #26 for selection #5 Daniel Hargraves (Western Bulldogs) for selection #18 Stuart Anderson (Kangaroos) for Winston Abraham Chris Bond (Richmond) with selection #5 for selection #2 1997 National draft: 6: James Walker (North Ballarat Rebels) 21: Clem Michael (South Fremantle) 26: Brodie Holland (Tassie Mariners) 32: Troy Johnson (South Fremantle) Rookie draft: 5: Brad Dodd (East Fremantle) 21: Paul Maher (Perth) 37: Cameron Jackson (Central U18) 53: John Neesham (East Fremantle)
Retired Ben Allan Scott Watters Greg Madigan Delisted Craig Burrows David Hynes Jamie Merillo Rupert Betheras (rookie) Gavin Milentis (rookie) Matthew Richter (rookie) Cameron Venables (rookie) Traded Away Gavin Mitchell to St Kilda for selection #32 Jeff White to Melbourne for selection #21 Winston Abraham to Kangaroos for Stuart Anderson
1998/99 off season
Traded to Fremantle Tony Modra (Adelaide) for selections #29 and #34 Brad Wira (Western Bulldogs) for Kingsley Hunter 1998 National draft: 2: Justin Longmuir (West Perth) 18: Daniel Schell (Central District) 49: Garth Taylor (Swan Districts) 64: Andrew Shipp (Springvale) Pre-season draft: 2: Ashley Prescott (Richmond) Rookie draft: 2: Darren Bolton (Peel Thunder) 17: Ashley Clancy (Subiaco) 31: Antoni Grover (Subiaco) 45: Andrew Smith (Subiaco) Rookie Elevation: Brad Dodd Paul Maher
Delisted Gary Dhurrkay Tony Godden Quenton Leach Brendon Feddema Cameron Jackson (rookie) Martin Whitelaw Troy Johnson John Neesham (rookie) Traded Away Kingsley Hunter to Western Bulldogs for Brad Wira Scott Chisholm to Melbourne for selection #29
1999/2000 off season
Traded to Fremantle Troy Cook (Sydney) for selection #34 Brendon Fewster (West Coast) for selection #16 Troy Longmuir (Melbourne) for selections #19 and #63 1999 National draft: 2: Paul Hasleby (East Fremantle) 4: Matthew Pavlich (Woodville-West Torrens) 5: Leigh Brown (Gippsland Power) 46: Adam Butler (Murray Bushrangers) 49: Ben Cunningham (Claremont) Pre-season draft: 2: Brad Bootsma (South Fremantle) Rookie draft: 2: Nathan Carroll (Claremont) 18: Robbie Haddrill (Perth) 34: Luke Newick (Subiaco) 49: Dale Walkingshaw (Peel Thunder) Rookie Elevation: Darren Bolton Antoni Grover Ashley Clancy
Retired Chris Bond (retired after he was delisted) Stuart Anderson Andrew McGovern Peter Mann Delisted Matthew Burton Andrew Wills Daniel Parker Daniel Hargraves Tony Delaney Michael Brown Darren Bolton Michael Clark Traded Away Stephen O'Reilly for selections #16 and #46
2000/01 off season
Traded to Fremantle Peter Bell (North Melbourne) for Jess Sinclair and selections #6, 8 & 37 Matthew Carr (St Kilda) for Craig Callaghan Daniel Metropolis (West Coast) for Greg Harding Dwayne Simpson (Sydney) for selection #52 2000 National draft: 39: Adam McPhee (Dandenong Stingrays) 51: Dion Woods (Perth) 66: Scott Thornton (Sandringham Dragons) Pre-season draft: 4: Simon Eastaugh (Essendon) Rookie draft: 5: Keren Ugle (South Fremantle) 21: Roger Hayden (South Fremantle) 36: Daniel Haines (Peel Thunder) 49: Andrew Siegert (Geelong) Rookie elevation: None
Delisted Mark Gale Paul Maher Matthew Clucas Trent Carroll Dale Walkingshaw Garth Taylor Luke Newick Nathan Carroll Andrew Smith Traded Away Craig Callaghan for Matthew Carr