Fremantle has Western Bulldogs star Aaron Naughton and Port Adelaide young gun Mitch Georgiades on its radar, according to Western Australia journalist Ryan Daniels.
Coming off an impressive rise to finish fifth in 2022, the Dockers had a busy off-season of player movement that saw the likes of Luke Jackson and Jaeger O’Meara join the club after Jordan Clark and Will Brodie arrived the year prior.
But Freo’s bid to add more talent reportedly won’t stop there, with Naughton, 23, and Georgiades, 21, who’re both from Western Australia, seemingly in the club’s sights in a bid to bolster its forward line that was a weak point last season.
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Naughton is contracted at the Dogs for two more seasons, while Georgiades, who was linked to West Coast last year as part of the Junior Rioli trade and other clubs, is on an expiring deal at Alberton.
Speaking on Triple M, Daniels revealed the Dockers were pursuing moves for the two key forwards.
“I know for a fact there’s two names very firmly on the radar,” he said.
“Aaron Naughton … and Mitch Georgiades … West Coast and Fremantle are right into this kid. If he plays more than a couple of games in the SANFL, that phone is going to be ringing hot, just watch that space all year.
“Naughton’s a bit more difficult because he’s under contract for this year and next. But as we know, things change in footy.
“I have it on very good authority that watch those two blokes. Do not be surprised if one of them ends up in purple as soon as next year.
“These things can happen, just watch this space. There was a lot of very subtle noise about Naughton last year … just an under current. Just watch that space.”
Naughton is coming off a career-best season where he booted 51 goals and 47 majors the year prior. Georgiades meanwhile regressed slightly last season with 23 goals and played several games in the SANFL after kicking 32 majors in his second year.
It comes after Fremantle football boss Peter Bell even confirmed to Daniels during an interview on Channel 7 the list profile is “never finished” and that it’d continue to look at trade, free agency and the draft.
Asked about potential interest in Naughton and Georgiades, Bell said: “We have a lot of conversations with player managers … we have an extra interest in West Australian players for very obvious reasons, just like Victorian list managers would have an extra interest in our Victorian players.
“The names you mentioned are certainly players we look at.
“But I think as a club we’re at a stage with the environment we’ve created, where there are players who are expressing interest – and sometimes that’s just it – and sometimes they express interest for a whole variety of reasons. But expressing interest in potentially moving to Western Australia and playing for Fremantle.
“That wasn’t the case a while ago. So things have changed a little bit.”
