FREMANTLE defender Alex Pearce has been added to an expanded leadership group, which will be led by captain Nat Fyfe for the second season.

The Dockers named a seven-man leadership group on Thursday morning, with club champion Bradley Hill the other new addition after an outstanding first season with the club. 

Michael Walters, Lachie Neale, David Mundy and Aaron Sandilands retained their leadership roles, while veteran defender Lee Spurr was the only player to make way from the 2017 group.

Pearce has been voted into the leadership group after just 21 games, having spent the majority of 2016 and all of 2017 recovering from a broken leg.

The 22-year-old is set to return in 2018 and, according to coach Ross Lyon, has the potential to be a future captain of Fremantle. 

"It means a lot to get voted in by your peers," Pearce said in a statement on Thursday.

"I’ve been lucky enough to be at the club for a while now and learn from the leaders who have gone before, so I’m just hoping that I can do the club proud."

Pearce said the additions to Fremantle's leadership group, including the 24-year-old Hill, showed the club was entering a new era.    

Hill, a three-time premiership player with Hawthorn, has played 22 games with Fremantle and said he was surprised to be elevated to the leadership group so early.

"To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it," he said.

"Obviously, I’ve only been here for one season and to hear that all the players rate me highly around the place, I’m glad to be a part of it.

"Hopefully, I can put in a lot to this leadership group and help the young players grow and help this team grow into a successful team."

Fyfe described the 2018 leadership group as rounded and representative of the entire list, which has added 22 new players since the end of 2016. 

The Brownlow medallist said Spurr, who was the only omission from last season, had played an important role in his own development as a leader and would continue to play a guiding role.

"Lee’s contribution has been enormous and I’m really grateful for the work he did with me particularly," Fyfe said.  

"But it does show the shift that we’ve gone on during the past two years."