Star ruck-forward Luke Jackson has rubbished suggestions he could leave Fremantle, pledging his AFL future to the club.
Victorian rivals have believed that Jackson could be open to returning to the state where he started his senior career five years ago.
There were even reports the 23-year-old had indicated to former Melbourne teammates that he was interested in re-joining the club.
But Jackson, who is contracted at Fremantle until the end of 2029, has assured Dockers fans he will remain in purple long-term.
“I definitely will,” he told reporters on Monday.
“I love Freo, I love playing at Freo and I’ve always wanted to play here since I was a little kid.
“I grew up supporting the club and I always remember watching the games, so I’ll definitely be here and I’ve loved my time here.”
Jackson dismissed suggestions he had reached out to former Demons teammates to tell them of his interest in re-joining the club where he won a premiership in 2021.
“It’s all rubbish, to be honest,” Jackson said.
“We played them a few weeks ago (in pre-season) and I won a premiership with them.
“I’ve got good relationships with them so I’ll obviously give them the time of day.
“Some of my best mates are in that team and it was good to see them.”
Another report on Monday suggested Jackson was open to extending his Fremantle contract beyond 2029.
“I’ll leave that stuff to my manager. That’s his role and his job,” Jackson said.
“I’m just focused on playing well for Freo and I absolutely love playing at Freo.”
Jackson spent much of his summer break in Melbourne where his partner, former Australian netballer Kelsey Browne, is from.
But when asked directly if he could categorically rule out moving to Victoria, Jackson said: “Ah, yes.”
Jackson insisted he wasn’t concerned that trade speculation would continue to hang over his head.
He is also confident he and Sean Darcy can make their two-pronged ruck partnership work when the latter returns from his ankle injury.
“We showed it a few years ago when we were both healthy and had that four or five-game winning patch, we were both two of the best players in the team and we were winning games,” Jackson said.
“I definitely have confidence we can do it.
“I think my game can be very flexible and it’s a very exciting thing that we can dip into that for years to come.
“I love being around the ball, I love going up forward and impacting there, but it can change every week.”
Jackson played 52 games for Melbourne as Max Gawn’s ruck understudy before requesting a trade to his home state of Western Australia.
He joined the Dockers at the end of 2022, and will reach the 100-game milestone when they host Sydney at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
Fremantle are desperately seeking to bounce back from a horror 78-point defeat to Geelong in their season-opener which, Jackson said, led to “honest conversations” in the review.
“It obviously wasn’t where we wanted to start the season but we’ve had the conversations and we’re looking forward to Sydney,” Jackson said.
“Our contest and team defence we really pride ourselves on and that probably wasn’t at the level.”
Last year’s beaten grand finalists, the Swans are also chasing their first win of the new season after losses to Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions.