Former Fremantle chief executive Cameron Schwab has revealed Matthew Pavlich sensationally asked about a trade at the end of his second year at the club.
Pavlich, who went on to play 353 games for the Dockers, was taken with pick four in the 1999 National Draft.
Fremantle’s 2001 season was nothing short of tumultuous, losing their first 17 games of the campaign to finish as wooden spooners, eventually leading to the sacking of Damian Drum as coach.
Schwab said the club had genuine concerns at that point about whether the champion Docker would eventually look to move on.
“There was a real fear that we were going to lose Matthew Pavlich,” he said on SEN’s The Sporting Capital.
“He was in his second or third year at the time, he ended up being a very different player to what he was (drafted) to be.
“It was a genuine thing for Fremantle at that time. Matthew Pavlich rang me in the middle of trade week – who I’ve only met for a minute – and said ‘if you have the opportunity to trade me, can you?’.
“I remember saying (to him) to give us 12 months to prove ourselves, I think he re-signs by the middle of the next year and makes the All-Australian team in the following year.”
Pavlich remains of one of Fremantle’s greatest ever players, kicking 700 goals and winning the club’s best and fairest award on six separate occasions.