Fremantle Dockers CEO Simon Garlick reveals they might spend more than AFL soft cap to chase a premiership

Fremantle are considering taking advantage of their hefty $7 million bank balance by exceeding the AFL soft cap for their football department and paying a luxury tax as they chase a historic first premiership. The Dockers have dramatically increased their coaching and football department staff significantly in recent seasons amid increases in the AFL’s football department soft cap. Clubs also have the option of paying a luxury tax if they want to hire more staff and exceed the cap, and chief executive Simon Garlick said that was now an option as they chase success. “It’s certainly a discussion that we have had, and we continue to have,” Garlick told The West Sport Show. Senior coach Jusin Longmuir now has a huge team underneath him, which includes four assistant coaches, an opposition strategy and leadership coach, three development coaches, a ruck coach, a leadership advisor, Peel Thunder coach and head of development. Former star Hayden Ballantyne also attends some sessions as a specialist coach. The Dockers made multiple changes to their High Performance team at the end of last season, including appointing Adam Beard as director of performance. “We are as well-resourced as we’ve ever been in that regard, in our history. And that needs to be a non-negotiable to my mind,” Garlick said. “We’ve been really strong and determined to clearly spend the absolute maximum of the soft cap. All of those resources are within the confines of that soft cap, to resource our football department in a way that reflects the high-performance organisation that we aspire to be.” Garlick said the club had to carefully consider the best way to make the most of their strong financial position and always consider the future. Their practice match at their Cockburn headquarters against West Coast on Saturday was made possible by a redevelopment that cost $5million. The Dockers built a new grandstand, changerooms, a gym, coach’s boxes and player lounge. They are also in discussions about the possibility of developing the sand banks on the outer side of the oval. Garlick said it was important to consider everything when making major financial decisions. “You want to ensure you get the balance right between ensuring that we’re incredibly strong and are able to invest when we want to, that we avoid the vagaries of on-field performance from a financial perspective, but we’re also maximising the playing list and getting the most out of them from a support and resource perspective,” he said.