FREMANTLE caretaker coach David Hale hasn't ruled out a tilt at the top job as he prepares to take charge in the club's final game this season against Port Adelaide.
Hale spent four seasons working under sacked mentor Ross Lyon, starting in development before stepping up to look after the forward line.
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While the three-time premiership Hawk's immediate focus is on the Power clash, he will meet with football boss Peter Bell to discuss the main job.
Ross Lyon's eight-year run as Fremantle coach ended on Tuesday. Picture: AFL Photos
"It's something I'll look at going forward. Obviously in five days it's hard to get your head around and obviously focusing on Port Adelaide," Hale said.
"I'll sit down with Peter Bell and go through that next week.
"I've played under five head coaches that were in at the start of this year, so the timeframe of how long it takes to become a head coach is obviously different (for everyone).
"(At Hawthorn) I played under Adam Simpson who took three years and obviously has done marvelously well (at West Coast), and I played under Chris Fagan who took, I don't know, 30 years really and is doing a fantastic job (in Brisbane).
"The timeframe to become an AFL coach is not set in stone, so I'll definitely go away and think about it and we'll make a decision going forward."
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Collingwood assistant Justin Longmuir and WA under-18s boss Peter Sumich have expressed interest in the Fremantle job and are viewed as the early frontrunners.
Ex-North Melbourne coach Brad Scott and current Power midfield coach Michael Voss could also be contenders.
Hale, 35, becomes the Dockers' seventh senior coach and the club's third caretaker after Ben Allan in 2001 and Mark Harvey, who was installed permanently after an interim stint in 2007.
North Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda have all won their first games under caretaker coaches this season.
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Hale's simple expectation from Fremantle's players is to compete and finish off a season which promised plenty but has tailed off with only two wins from the past nine games.
"Most of them are in pretty good spirits," Hale said.
"Obviously, the guys that have been around with Ross for a long time have a few different emotions, but the bulk of the list is pretty young, so they've had a couple of years with Ross, but they're pros and they'll go out and compete for us on the weekend.
"You can't really revolutionise too much (of the gameplan) in six hours (in charge of training), so must of the stuff will be pretty similar and go out and enjoy themselves.
"It's the last opportunity for that playing group, more than likely, to play together with retirements and injuries and the way the Trade Period works in the off-season."
The Dockers appear set to lose Ed Langdon, with Bradley Hill also keen to return to Melbourne. Hill's brother Stephen is a free agent, and Victorian midfielder Darcy Tucker is yet to put pen to paper.
Fremantle's list will be younger next year following the departures of Aaron Sandilands and Hayden Ballantyne, who won't make the trip to Port Adelaide.
David Mundy, 34, is expected to continue in 2020 despite remaining unsigned.
"That's a list management decision. They've got a lot of decisions to make in regards to our list demographic and what they want moving forward, so whether that's Dave, whether that's a young guy coming in, that's out of my jurisdiction," Hale said.
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