FREMANTLE great Luke McPharlin has called on young leaders such as Nat Fyfe and Lachie Neale to step up as the Dockers embark on a rebuild in 2017.
The Dockers are searching for answers after a horror 2016 season that has seen them slide from minor premiers to 16th in the space of 12 months.
Fremantle faces a multitude of problems and McPharlin believes refreshing the club's "old leadership group" is vital to any solution.
"I think it's important for any football team," McPharlin told AFL.com.au.
"You always want that, if you want to call them second tier, coming through. It's paramount. The leadership as it stands at the moment, I think four of them are above 30 and then you've got Nat Fyfe and Lee Spurr and that's it.
"It's an old leadership group. So then with (Matthew) Pavlich retiring, (Aaron) Sandilands won't be too far behind, (Michael) Johnson; that next bracket coming through – Lachie Neale, Nat Fyfe and those types – they absolutely have to step in."
Fremantle players vote on the leadership group every season in an initiative set up by leadership consultant Leading Teams.
For the 2016 season, the players voted for David Mundy (31) as captain, Pavlich (34), Sandilands (33), Johnson (32), Spurr (29) and Fyfe (24). Johnson was the only new face from the 2015 group after McPharlin retired.
Mundy second only to Pav among Freo greats
Of that group, only Mundy and Spurr are playing this week, while Sandilands, Johnson and Fyfe have scarcely played all season.
"It's going to require the next phase to come through," McPharlin said.
"From what I know of Lachie Neale, and others, there are some really good guys there.
"They're going to have to fast-track their leadership because they've sort of been able to play without having the burden of leadership for a while, which has been helpful for them but they're going to have to take it on in the next year or so."
McPharlin said any criticism of Mundy's appointment as captain was wide of the mark.
"David has been finishing second to Pav in that voting for the last three or four years," he said.
"His ability now to give instruction and feedback in such direct fashion, I'd have to say it's some of the best I've seen.
"For him to get the captaincy this year, I know possibly externally it was a bit of a surprise but I wasn't surprised at all knowing that he's been second to Pav in that voting."
McPharlin said Fremantle's results this season weren't a reflection on Mundy's ability to lead.
"That's always going to be the presumption, that his leadership has been poor this year given the way the team's going, but I think it reflects on the whole place really," McPharlin said.
If the Dockers fail to win another game, their 16-game drop from 18 wins last year to three in 2016 will equal the biggest drop in wins by any team in league history, matching Collingwood's fall from 19 wins in 1981 to just four in 1982.
