AFL Trades: Fremantle footy boss Joe Brierty confirms interest in Liam Baker if West Coast deal falls over

Fremantle football boss Joe Brierty says last week’s surprising pick swap has “potentially opened the door” for the Dockers to swoop in and nab Liam Baker, despite the Tiger being keen to get to West Coast. It came as Brierty confirmed Freo had the collateral to trade in both Baker and his Richmond teammate Shai Bolton as they continue to monitor the situation around the Tigers’ vice-captain. Baker has been set to move to West Coast this year after requesting a trade back to WA, but the move was thrown into doubt on Friday when Hawthorn shocked the industry by trading pick No.14 to Carlton. That first-round draft pick was set to be the centre piece of a trade for Tom Barrass to the Hawks, with the Eagles then expected to on-trade it to Richmond as part of a deal for Baker. West Coast officials and Baker’s camp have spent the weekend trying to find another way to get the trade done, but the Dockers are firmly in the picture armed with three-first-round picks (No.10, 11 and 18) if it doesn’t happen. Brierty confirmed the Dockers were interested in the 26-year-old. “From our perspective there has been ongoing discussions with Liam over the the journey, even dating back to his previous contract at Richmond,” Brierty told AFL Trade Radio. “It (Friday’s pick swap) has potentially opened the door and we’ll consider what that looks like and having those discussions. “Our understanding is he still has a desire to get to West Coast and that’s the position they would like to achieve, and from our point of view, we’re respectful of that. “As I said, it’s something that over a long period of time we’ve had ongoing discussions with him and he suits our list and our profile. And if the opportunity was to arise, we feel like we’ve got the collateral to meet Richmond’s needs and achieving the result for Liam to come to us. We’re respectful there’s a fair bit to play out there.” Brierty said the Dockers had tabled their best offer to Richmond for both WA products ahead of Wednesday’s trade deadline. But he would not confirm if they’d put all three of their first-round picks on the table. “We’ve been proactive in a sense of speaking to Richmond and we’ve been clear and tables a position on what we think it would look like from an offer point of view,” Brierty said. “I won’t go into specifics of what it looks like. As I mentioned earlier we’ve got the collateral that could obviously meet the needs of Richmond. “We’ve made sure that our position has been really strong and respect the talent of both players and making sure that it meets the needs of Richmond Football Club.” Outside of the Baker deal, Fremantle have reportedly tabled picks No.10 and 18 for Bolton, but the Tigers are steadfast they want picks 10 and 11 for the small forward. “We look at the talent of Shai and the situation they’re in and we look at the consistency of the market and feel like the offer is really strong for him,” Brierty said. “Ultimately, we need to be responsible as a club and be balanced in our approach. We want to see Shai at our football club but as it stands we feel like there’s a really strong offer. “We look at the offer and the current draft and the talent that is available, we feel like it’s a really strong position. Those kinds of conversations will continue to evolve, but that’s where it stands at the moment.” The AFL trade period closes on Wednesday at 4.30pm WA time.