Fremantle might not have changed their stars with their 2018 trade period, but they have certainly shifted their 2019 horizon.

The Dockers have gone from a team hoping to build on eight wins, and shrink the number of bad losses, to one capable of pressing for finals — with luck.

The luck part is critical because, with the loss of Lachie Neale from the midfield, and with Adam Cerra and Andrew Brayshaw still only in their second years at the top level Fremantle’s midfield will be vulnerable if they get injuries to the wrong players (Nat Fyfe). But what they now have, as a result of a well-executed trade period by Steve Rosich, Peter Bell and Ross Lyon, is the bone structure they have lacked since the departures of Luke McPharlin and Matthew Pavlich.

They have a spine that includes two genuine marking targets, Jesse Hogan and Rory Lobb, which allows them to shift Brennan Cox to defence, where he played as a junior, and make Cam McCarthy, Shane Kersten and others earn their spots in the best 22.

The addition of Reece Conca gives them some cover for Neale, whose place in the midfield is likely to be taken by Connor Blakely. He played half-back for much of last season.

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Hogan is a calculated risk because of the combination of his foot injury and his unsettled off-field life, which goes a long way to explaining the three-year length of the deal to get him to the Dockers.

It is too soon to know for sure how serious a problem the foot injury will be — or if it will be a problem at all. Hogan’s off-field battles can be explained to a large degree by the death of his father, other family health issues and his own battle with cancer.

It is up to the Dockers to get him settled back in his home State. It must be said he has always continued to perform, his 47 goals in 2018 coming in 20 games.

Lobb is an interesting one in terms of how the Dockers will use him and what that means for Matt Taberner, one of Fremantle’s most improved in 2018. Lobb kicked 29 goals as a 23-year-old forward who did some rucking in 2016.

He kicked 11 in 19 matches doing the bulk of the ruck work in the back half of 2018. Clearly, he will be a forward ruckman in support of either Aaron Sandilands or Sean Darcy in 2019. It is the role that suits him best.

Conca, 26, played 104 games in eight seasons at Richmond after being the No.6 draft pick in 2010.

That figure is low because of three seasons wrecked by injury. It cost him all but six matches in 2017 and a spot in the Tigers’ premiership team. He played 18 games in 2018 and should be in the Dockers’ best 22.

Travis Colyer, 27, played 87 matches for Essendon but only eight times in 2018. He adds pace and depth to a midfield that will need some stabilising because of the loss of Neale.

What can the Dockers do in 2019? It is fair to say the win-loss bar for Lyon will be lifted now. They may not play finals but he will want to have them in contention very late in the season. It is hard to get a gauge on them because they were affected by injury in 2018. Fyfe missed seven games, Bradley Hill 12, Stephen Hill nine and Blakely nine. Their best midfield wasn’t out there all together all that often.

Fremantle lost pick six and Neale and gained Hogan, Lobb, Conca and Colyer, along with picks 14, 31, 43 and 65. This is not a guarantee of finals success but it is a big shot in the arm for a club that needed one.