Fremantle speedster Danyle Pearce is proving to be a free agency success story.
Pearce joined the Dockers from Port Adelaide as an unrestricted free agent in October and has starred in its two wins this year. He is averaging 90 Dream Team points across the first two games of 2013, up from 73 points in 2012. His addition to the Fremantle midfield has also served to free up fellow ball carrier Stephen Hill whose average has increased 10 points on last season.
Pearce debuted with Port Adelaide in 2005 and became an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2012 because he had served eight years with the Power and had fallen out of contract.
Pearce had a solid 2012 season, where he played 20 games, but at times he appeared frustrated by the close attention of taggers playing amongst a developing midfield. It was only at the completion of the season he was notified by his manager that Fremantle were interested and he began to consider an offer to change clubs.
The prospect of leaving his home state was not a decision he made lightly.
“I did a lot of research into the club and the area, because it was obviously a massive move not just for me but to take my family over there. I wanted to be really sure it was the right decision,” Pearce said.
At 26 years old and with a young family, it was important for Pearce have job security and he believed he would be better suited to continuing his career at another club and in another system. The expanses of Subiaco Oval and the fact Fremantle were in need of more outside weaponry were obvious attractions.
“The life of an AFL football is very different to other careers, at the end of the day it’s a short career. For most players the average span is less than six years so having passed this point with one club I knew I had to think carefully about what I do from here,” he said.
“Some people think of football as a hobby, but I would like to find another 26-year-old who had been studying their profession since they were six years old. It’s our life and we are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity and we will do anything to keep it going.”
The 2006 NAB Rising Star said one of the great aspects of free agency is the ability for players who have provided significant service to one club to choose where they would like to continue their football careers.
“Free agency allows you to sit down to discuss terms and have some control over your fate rather than just throwing your name in a hat and hoping someone picks you up,” Pearce said.
“People talk about loyalty, but to be eligible you need to have given eight years of service to a club. You are not going to find a much better measure of loyalty than that so I think that’s one of the great things about this policy.
“And as far as people questioning whether it jeopardises the effort you put in, that’s just a glass half-full way of thinking. I certainly never looked at it that way.”
Asked whether he felt the free agency period should be extended to allow players to sign during the season, Pearce said this wouldn’t have made a difference for him, given it was not until the final siren that he was ready to fully consider the options.
“While I was playing for Port that is the only place I wanted to be and right up to the final siren of the last game that didn’t change,” Pearce said.
Speaking about his new club, Pearce said it had made his family very welcome and was looking forward to a fresh environment and the opportunity to contribute to another group.
“Fremantle have certainly bent over backwards to make sure we have all settled in and my family love it. It is a similar lifestyle to Adelaide, with the city and beach culture, so it’s been really good,” Pearce said.
“The training and game plan was obviously different so it has taken a few weeks to adjust but I think the future is really bright.”