Luke Jackson's Fremantle Mission: Deliver the Dockers' First Flag
Luke Jackson won an AFL premiership at 19. Now, at 24, he wants to give Fremantle something the club has never had.
Jackson was part of Melbourne's 2021 Grand Final win — a 74-point demolition of the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in Perth that ended a 57-year premiership drought for the Demons (ABC News). Two years later, a mid-season meeting sealed his move home to Western Australia, where he joined the Dockers — the club he'd supported as a kid (AFL.com.au).
"I'm a WA boy, grew up here. I supported Freo when I was a kid," Jackson told ABC News. Asked whether he dreams about winning a premiership with Fremantle, he said: "I'm only human" (ABC News).
Fremantle has never won an AFL premiership since entering the competition in 1995. Jackson knows what being the first would mean. "To be in that first group that hopefully does it, yeah, you'll be remembered forever," he said (ABC News).
The Dockers head into September as the competition's minor premiers — two games clear of Sydney at the top of the ladder, with two home finals and the double-chance (a finals system that gives top-four teams a second life if they lose their first final). They set a club record with 14 consecutive wins in 2026 and recorded more wins in a single season than ever before (ABC News).
Jackson is a major reason why. In 2026, he produced career highs in disposals, goals, hit-outs (when a ruckman taps the ball to a teammate at a stoppage), tackles, clearances and contested possessions. He was named in the All Australian side for the first time, alongside four teammates — Shai Bolton, Josh Treacy, Murphy Reid and Jordan Clark — the first time Fremantle has had five players in the team (Fremantle FC). ABC News reported in June that Jackson had become the best ruckman in the competition, with play that "can take the breath away" (ABC News).
The recognition is overdue in some eyes. Jackson polled 17 Brownlow Medal votes (the AFL's best-and-fairest award, voted by umpires) in 2025 but was overlooked for All Australian honours that year (ABC News).
Named alongside him in the 2026 All Australian ruck was Melbourne's Max Gawn, who claimed a record ninth blazer. It is a neat intersection: the mentor and the protege, now rivals. Justin Longmuir, Fremantle's coach, was asked about the All Australian ruck debate ahead of a Jackson-Gawn showdown at the MCG (AFL.com.au).
Jackson credits Longmuir with keeping the group grounded. His biggest strength, Jackson said, is helping the team stay in the moment — being process-driven rather than getting ahead of itself (ABC News).
The moment is here regardless. Fremantle began preparing this week for a qualifying final against Hawthorn on Thursday night — the first step in a finals campaign the whole club has been building toward (ABC News; Fremantle FC).
"What everyone plays for, what everyone wants, is obviously the flag," Jackson said. "And at Freo, we're very determined to be that first group that can do it" (ABC News).
