FREMANTLE ruckman Luke Jackson has told the Dockers he has "never been happier" and would not be requesting a trade, according to coach Justin Longmuir.

Jackson was at his versatile best in a 19-point pre-season win against former club Melbourne on Sunday as reports emerged during the match that rival clubs were monitoring his potential interest in a trade.

DOCKERS v DEMONS Full match coverage and stats

Longmuir said the Dockers had spoken to Jackson about the report and been told he was happy in purple as he enters his third season with the club.

"Not a concern. Nothing I've seen of Luke during the pre-season has shown me that he wants to leave our club," Longmuir said when asked if he was worried about the noise. 

"Someone from the club has spoken to him already and he has reiterated that he doesn't want to go anywhere and he's never been happier, so we'll leave it at that I reckon."

Jackson played as a third tall forward and spent time in the ruck on Sunday against the Demons, finishing with two goals and 18 disposals while also busting from contests as a ground-level threat.

The Dockers now need to make a decision on whether they deploy Jackson as their No.1 ruckman while Sean Darcy is injured or hand the job to Liam Reidy and maintain their preferred forward structure.

On Sunday's performance, Longmuir said the Dockers had played high quality football through the second quarter and got the game on their terms, but they fell away in the contest in the second half. 

Star recruit Shai Bolton showed what he is capable of with two goals and a team-high nine score involvements in his first game as a Docker after previously lining up with the Indigenous All Stars.

"He was a bit the same as the team. There was some stuff he can sharpen up, but this was his first competitive game with us," Longmuir said.

"He's coming off that little calf injury, so he probably felt the conditions, the heat, and the fatigue a little bit more than others.

"I thought his best was very good and there was a little bit of rust on other areas of his game."

Melbourne assistant Troy Chaplin said the Demons took a lot of positives out of the contest after winning clearances (45-27), contested ball (127-112), inside 50s (63-45) and having more scoring shots than their opponents.

Poor conversion, however, had prevented the team from being rewarded.

"It can be a little bit frustrating, the execution, but the way we're playing, there was a lot to like from that," Chaplin said.

"So we know that there's parts in the game we need to get better at, but to have those type of numbers and a lot of green in the coaches box, we walk away happy with that. But we know we've got a lot of work to him to do as well."

Chaplin paid tribute to superstar midfielder Christian Petracca, who played his first competitive game since suffering life-threatening injuries in the Kings Birthday game last season.

Petracca had a game-high 33 disposals and 10 inside 50s, sharing 20 clearances with midfield sidekick Clayton Oliver, who was also in excellent form. 

"It's been a really tough time for him (Petracca), and to see him play the way he did is a credit to him because he's had to jump through a few mental hoops as well," Chaplin said.

"It hasn't been easy for him, but obviously he's come back in fantastic condition.

"I had a chat to him at the hotel and said, 'You're going to be feeling every emotion today', and he did. He said he was a little bit anxious, a little bit nervous, and they're the emotions that you're going to feel in that situation.

"But he's done a power of work, not only on his body but his mindset, and to come out and deliver that sort of performance, it speaks a lot about him as a player and as a human."

Chaplin said the Demons expected to have young key forward Jacob van Rooyen available for their season opener after the promising tall suffered a back spasm in the opening minute.

"He's had it before but not to that extent," Chaplin said.

"We tried to get him up and going in the first quarter … but it just wasn't worth the risk.

"He's pretty sore, but he'll be fine for round one."