Blues the frontrunners as Cerra tells Dockers he wants to move home

Carlton are clear-cut favourites to sign Fremantle’s Adam Cerra after the midfielder told the Dockers of his wish to return home to Victoria.

Cerra informed Fremantle that he wanted to return to his home state on Tuesday, and though he didn’t nominate a club, the Blues are the likely destination for the 21-year-old.

Adam Cerra has told the Dockers he wants to return to Victoria.Credit:Getty Images

Cerra has not yet met with the Blues and industry sources said he was expected to choose them despite the uncertainty surrounding their coach for 2022. David Teague’s fate has yet to be confirmed by the club’s hierarchy.

Cerra’s decision is not based on money at all, and rather about he and his partner being close to family and friends. The Dockers had offered him more than $700,000 a season to stay.

There are few clubs in Melbourne with either the salary cap space, need for the player, or draft capital to attract Cerra. As one source familiar with Cerra’s situation put it: “there isn’t a Melbourne Cup field”.

While Carlton are clearly ahead, Melbourne are the only other viable alternative as a home for Cerra. But the Demons would need to lose a player of note in order to consider Cerra, which is unlikely.

The Blues hold pick six in the national draft, which is expected to be pushed back to pick eight following matched bids for father-son picks Sam Darcy (Western Bulldogs) and Nick Daicos (Collingwood).

That pick is short odds to be the centrepiece of a Cerra trade between Fremantle and Carlton, though the Dockers may want the deal sweetened given Cerra was pick No.5 in the 2017 draft and has proven to be a quality player with potentially a decade of football ahead of him.

Fremantle’s football operations manager Peter Bell said the club was disappointed to be losing a player of Cerra’s quality, but recognised his reasons to leave.

“Since his arrival in 2017, Adam Cerra has been everything we hoped we would get from a No.5 selection in the draft, which only highlights our disappointment in his decision,” Bell said.

“Our disappointment comes with the understanding that Adam is making this request purely based on his desire to be closer to his family and friends, something that has been especially difficult for our interstate players in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since 2017, we have invested a lot into Adam both on and off the field, and we are proud of the person he is and the footballer he is.

“It’s easy to forget that he is only 21, with many years ahead until he reaches the peak of his abilities.”

As reported by The Age earlier this month, Richmond, speculated as a potential home for Cerra for months, have opted not to pursue him and are heavily focused on the national draft, in which the Tigers have a huge hand. The Tigers also have a tight salary cap due to contractual commitments.

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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.

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