ON THE verge of a first-ever Grand Final appearance,Fremantle midfielder David Mundy says he is delighted he resisted thetemptation to leave the club to return to Victoria three years ago.

At the end of 2010 Mundy was undecided on where his future lay.At 25, the 192cm midfielder had just enjoyed his best season in the AFL.

In his seventh year at Fremantle he had won the best andfairest, he was one of the Dockers' best performed players in only the club'sthird finals campaign and he had been named in the All Australian 40-man squad.

But the quiet country boy from Seymour in Victoria hadsuitors from back home and the lure was strong.

"There was a decision to be made and there was a strongpull," Mundy said.

"Strong family ties is, I think, what has made me theperson that I am."

But Mundy is sure that despite the temptations of home thedecision to stay was the right one.

"At the end of the day I saw myself as a Fremantleplayer and I wanted to continue in that vein.

"I'm obviously stoked that I stayed and helped build astrong culture at the football club which I'm very proud of."

The 28-year-old is now a life member at Fremantle, havingplayed 185 games, and he has become one of the centrepieces of the Dockers'destructive midfield unit.

He gathered 29 possessions in Saturday night's preliminaryfinal win over the Sydney Swans.

Fremantle dominated the Swans' All Australian-heavy midfield,winning the clearances in emphatic fashion as it did against Geelong in thequalifying final.

"I think what makes the team work really well is thateveryone knows their role within in the team - and that's for me as well,"Mundy said.

"We're seeing the cohesion of the group and thecontinuity of the main guys go through there like myself, Nat [Fyfe], andMichael Barlow playing a fair bit of footy together, and on top of that you putAaron Sandilands and Zac Clarke playing some really great football and givingus some silver service, which really helps."

Mundy is also embracing the fact that he is now a leader atFremantle despite initially struggling to come to terms with thatresponsibility.

"I think it was just something that I needed to do toprogress my football and my character a little bit.

"When I first came to the club I was a shy country ladand didn't really want to talk to anyone.  

"It's something that I still don't find natural and I'mstill working on day to day, week to week.

"I don't mind it. I really enjoy being in the innersanctum of the group and helping lead the young guys."