Fremantle football boss Joe Brierty says Dockers haven’t had interest in Bobby Hill despite AFL comeback

Fremantle won’t be giving Norm Smith medallist Bobby Hill an AFL lifeline despite the mercurial small forward being keen to resurrect his career after rediscovering his love for football.

It comes as Dockers football boss Joe Brierty revealed he would sit down with retired Richmond defender Nathan Broad in the next fortnight about a potential coaching role at the club for the three-time premiership Tiger.

Hill has been back training in the hope of returning to the AFL after he departed Collingwood in July, having taken leave from the club for personal reasons.

The 26-year-old has not featured in the league since round 21 of last season and faces an uphill battle to find a third club despite his obvious talent.

Fremantle are widely viewed as a good fit for the Perth product given they have lost Sam Switkowski because of retirement in the wake of their grand final defeat to Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday.

Brierty said they had not spoken to Hill or his management about a future role at the Dockers.

“There’s obviously been a lot going on off the field from Bobby’s perspective, so we haven’t had any discussions with Bobby or his management about coming to the club,” he said.

“We’ll always look at everything we can with players that might make our list better and consider that as a list management group. But as it stands here now, we haven’t entertained anything with Bobby.”

Despite the loss of Switkowski, Brierty was confident the Dockers had enough depth in the small forward department going forward to help cover his absence.

“When we look at the development of the small forwards we’ve already got on our list, we feel as though there are some players who are ready to take that opportunity,” he said.

“You look at Tobyn Murray and Chris Scerri. (Leon) Kickett is a young player who’s developing into what we think can be a player at AFL level as well.

“We’re excited about the talent that we have on our list that can fill those opportunities with Sam departing from the club. We know that (Isaiah) Dudley is going to continue to get better and better. But not having gone through the detail of looking at it, it’s not something that we’ve really assessed at the moment.”

Brierty was also asked about any potential trade for Sydney superstar Chad Warner — who still has a year left on his deal at the Swans.

“Similar to the discussion around Bobby, there’s a fair bit going on at Sydney at the moment,” he said.

“Chad’s a contracted player. Our position has been when that when we feel as though a player who can add value to our club (is available) we’ve always looked at having discussions with Western Australians ... but it needs to be the right fit and the right time for us.

“I won’t go into specific of individuals, but we’ll always look at how we can improve our list.”

Another player Fremantle have been linked to is Broad, who is returning home to Western Australia after 191 games in 11 seasons at the Tigers.

While the 33-year-old hung up his boots, he’s been open to another club, and the Dockers were viewed as a chance given they need more key defensive depth.

However, Brierty said they would talk to Broad about a potential coaching role, having lost midfield development coach Todd Curley and Peel Thunder coach Adam Read this week.

“Nathan and I have had a couple of discussions about coaching. We haven’t had discussions about playing,” he said.

“We will look to catch up with him in the next fortnight to see what his plans might be. He’s transitioning back to WA with his family, so we’ll have those discussions with him, and he may form a part of our process in replacing those roles.”