I've just been looking at Fremantle's drafting history for literally no reason, and boy have they stuffed it all up.
At the end of 2011, Pavlich is 29, about to turn 30 for the 2012 season. Premiership window about to open right up. Fremantle's second and third forwards are Kepler Bradley (career average 0.7 goals per game) and Chris Mayne (sub 190cm) respectively, with Pavlich injured a fair bit.
You'd think at this trade period, along with future trade periods, Fremantle would target tall forwards, having not drafted or traded in a good forward for years.
2011 draft, they have Pick 16. Draft a medium defender where there are no good forward options (except maybe Fraser McInnes or Shane Kersten). Fair enough.
2012 draft, they have Pick 17. Draft a midfielder when they could have picked Marco Paparone (23) Spencer White (25) James Stewart (27) Tim O'Brien (28) Mason Shaw (30) or Michael Close (32). That's literally six tall forwards they could have picked. Then with their second pick they grab a mediocre tall defender (Tanner Smith). They grab Matt Taberner as a rookie.
2013 draft, they have Pick 13, grab Michael Apeness who's a key forward! Maybe could have grabbed Daniel McStay (25). They get an okay key defender with Pick 37.
So they've drafted one key forward, one key defender, and some late picks who haven't done much. Probably still need one more forward to develop considering they have just an aging Pavlich.
2014 Draft, Pick 13. Pick a midfielder (Lachie Weller) who's widely tipped to leave! Only key defenders available around that mark (Lever, Durdin, Goddard) but they probably needed to boost that area, so they really should have picked up one. With their second pick they take another midfielder!
So theoretically Fremantle could have had a spine of: Stewart and McStay, both of which have been decent at GWS/Brisbane, plus Lever as a CHB. This would have come at the expense of Josh Simpson (delisted), Apeness (played 2 games), and Weller (tipped to leave)
Instead they have Apeness and Taberner, plus Pearce and (rookie) Tanner Smith.
In that time they also failed to attract the following traded/free agent tall forwards: Charlie Dixon, Lachie Henderson, Josh Walker, Jake Carlisle, Jarrad Waite, Mitch Clark, Lance Franklin, Chris Dawes, Kurt Tippett, Jack Gunston, Tom Lynch, Mitch Clark (the first time), Josh Jenkins, and even Travis Cloke.
But they did get Scott Gumbleton.