WAtoday was told by a source close to the Dockers that Alastair Clarkson, the four-time premiership coach at Hawthorn, was in Perth last Wednesday looking at property in Port Coogee. In the days since, a caller told Radio 6PR the tactical genius was seen house-hunting in the same area, and an unknown punter tweeted the 51-year-old had already bought there. Both Hawthorn and Fremantle have denied Clarkson was in Perth last week. While this sort of scuttlebutt is normally reserved for October's trade period, perhaps the rumour mill has started early for Fremantle fans during another September spent twiddling their thumbs. So let's indulge for a minute. Here's why we think the rumour is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Ruthless Fremantle

Fremantle kept Lyon's appointment under wraps until they announced it to a stunned press conference in Perth. Ditto his sacking. Rare feats indeed these days. They are masters of secrecy. Port Coogee

The plush new oceanside suburb is only a few drop punts from Fremantle's purpose-built training base in Cockburn. Enough said. Jeff Kennett with Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson in a 2012 preliminary final against Adelaide. Credit:Sebastian Costanzo Brendan Bolton

Bolton was sacked by Carlton this year after serving as Clarkson's right-hand man at the Hawks from 2009-2015. He took the senior reins in 2014 for five unbeaten games when the coach fell ill and just two weeks ago was appointed director of coaching, back at Hawthorn, an odd appointment given Clarkson's seniority and stature, unless a rookie is waiting in the wings to coach the Hawks.... Sam Mitchell

... and that rookie would be Mitchell, Hawks premiership captain and legend, AFL coach-in-waiting. Bolton's new role suggests he's there to mentor a first-year coach. Favourite son Mitchell played 305 games for the Hawks. He cut short a four-year contract as an assistant coach with West Coast two years early to return home at the end of 2018, when he was in high demand before accepting an assistant coaching role from Clarkson at Hawthorn.

Jeff Kennett

The outspoken Hawthorn president (and ex-Victorian premier) clashes often with Alastair Clarkson. In 2013 he called for him to be sacked, despite the latter taking the Hawks to the premiership that season and in 2008 (under Kennett's presidency). In 2017, he questioned if Clarkson was the right man to coach the Hawks. In 2018, while president again, he went on record saying "a leadership position should be occupied between between six and nine years" in relation to Clarkson's tenure at the club. A "happy team" these two indeed are not at Hawthorn. Reinventing himself

Clarkson joined Hawthorn in 2005, developing a list in quick time that won a shock premiership by 2008. Two relatively lean years followed, but Clarkson reinvigorated the squad and by 2011 had the Hawks primed, coaching them to four consecutive grand finals from 2012-2015. An end-of-an-era rebuild loomed but Clarko steered the Hawks back to fourth in 2018 and had his contract extended by three years until the end of 2022. Sound familiar? He guided Hawthorn to the brink of finals again this season after defeating West Coast in Perth in a barnstorming finish to 2019. But another source within the Dockers told us this week good AFL coaches often want to reinvent themselves. Ross Lyon did the very same thing when he left St Kilda - as its most successful coach ever - to take on the challenge of leading Fremantle, and there's been countless others before and since. Clarkson is a driven and determined coach, always analysing changes in the modern game, from playing styles to personnel. A reinvention at the Fremantle Football Club is a perfect fit for the mastermind coach.