Brisbane’s audacious plan to poach Lachie Neale was hatched at a meeting with him in a Darwin cafe in July around Fremantle’s round 16 clash with Melbourne at TIO Stadium.

It should lead to some very serious meetings in cafes and meeting rooms at the Dockers’ Cockburn headquarters.

Fremantle are outwardly adamant that Neale will not be traded and, barring a “Godfather” trade offer from Brisbane, that may well stay the case.

Inwardly they should acknowledge that this is a red-flag moment for the club. Why was Neale even exploring a shift a year out from the end of his contract?

Ross Lyon may not need to steer the team into the finals next year to keep his job. But he does need something more than his eight wins from 2018 and something significantly less than nine big losses of 50 points or more.

Don't miss the latest sports news! Was $13 now $7 per week for 12 weeks* (Digital + Print) Enjoy unlimited access to thewest.com.au and everyday digital editions on any device. Thursday - Monday papers home delivered with all of the latest footy news! *T&Cs apply

To do that, he needs Neale, his best-performed player of the past three years.

There is no denying 2019 looms as a defining year, not only for Lyon, but for the entire Dockers leadership. The club has spent almost all of 2018 on the defensive from the time Harley Bennell was exiled for eight weeks for a fight with a bouncer and a workplace harassment saga engulfed Lyon and the club.

It continued all the way to a 133-point flogging at the hands of Geelong in round 22.

There were moments of joy.

Camera Icon Will Lachie Neale be at Freo next year? Credit: AFL Media

Fremantle won eight games and found two kids who can seriously play — Adam Cerra and Andrew Brayshaw.

Cerra’s signature on a new contract will be almost as important as Neale’s.

Calls for Lyon’s head are not likely to be heeded ... for now. The Dockers would face a two-year pay-out. With salary caps in place on football department spending, that would be less than ideal.

Next year is a different matter. A one-year pay-out will be easier than selling more of the same to fans if there are no clear signs of improvement and no fresh deals for the likes of Neale and Cerra.

We can’t confidently claim this rebuild has gone awry. Most rebuilds look wrong for a while, even if they are right. It is simply too early to tell.

But we can say the signals are sufficiently mixed to raise concerns. What it all means will become clearer next year and with that will come clarity abut Lyon’s future.

Cerra and Brayshaw look like top-shelf players and there is hope 2016 draft picks Brennan Cox, Sean Darcy and Luke Ryan will become very good players.

Play Video WATCH: The best of Mitch McGovern, as he begins the search for a new club. The West Australian Video WATCH: The best of Mitch McGovern, as he begins the search for a new club.

But the club’s trade results are mixed. Nathan Wilson, Bradley Hill and Joel Hamling have been valuable acquisitions and look capable of being part of Fremantle’s next finals team.

But Shane Kersten and Brandon Matera look like depth players at best and Bennell has played just two games in three seasons. Without a big summer Cam McCarthy is no certainty to start the final season of a three-year deal in the best 22.

Fremantle need to accept that anything they get from Bennell and McCarthy now is a bonus.

The Dockers also need to fix a worsening injury record. Aaron Sandilands’ extended absence this year can be attributed to age, but Stephen Hill’s quad issues, Bennell’s calf concerns and skipper Nat Fyfe’s hamstring injury were all part of a raft of soft-tissue problems that exposed the Dockers’ youth and left the club vulnerable on the field. Lyon must also embrace positive game plans which lead to higher scoring. Only two teams scored less than Fremantle in 2016, one in 2017, two this year.

Lyon built his successful teams around defence, but the Dockers cannot just hope to defend their way back up the ladder in 2019.

They have been on the defensive on the field almost as often as off it this year. They are about to enter a trade period in which chief executive Steve Rosich is handling list management after Brad Lloyd’s departure, then a national draft where their first pick is in the top 10, their next close to 80.

It’s time for a long, hard look. And if that look doesn’t produce clear stability and improvement, it WILL be time for change in 12 months.