Luke Jackson Sparks Fremantle’s 5.1 Centre-Clearance Burst — Afl Scores Live
Luke Jackson delivered the sharpest centre-square burst of his season last Saturday night, and afl scores live showed Fremantle turning that work into 5.1 from centre clearances against Carlton. The Dockers had not produced that kind of return from the middle since 2019.
Jackson’s Carlton burst
Jackson kicked two goals on the run out of centre clearances and backed up his ruck work with ground-level follow-up. That combination helped Fremantle post its best scoreboard return from centre clearances in 2026 and gave the 24-year-old another clear marker of how far his game has come.
He climbed to No. 9 in Champion Data’s AFL Player Ratings this year after sitting at No. 11 last year. Across 2023-24, he was No. 47. The jump matches the kind of centre-bounce influence Fremantle wants from a player whose biggest value now comes when the ball is live and the contest opens up.
Naismith’s summer work
Sam Naismith said Jackson’s offseason shift was built around running with midfielders rather than staying with the taller players. “His running capacity improved by running with the midfielders and not being stuck with the taller guys, so he started running really well and flying across the ground,” Naismith said. “But also with his strength, he's a little bit heavier than what he was last year and he's been able to carry that weight and still be explosive and springy and agile with his footwork, so that's been huge.”
Jye Amiss and Jackson also organised a lot of gym and running work together over the summer, while adding regular ice bath and sauna sessions to their recovery. Naismith also said, “I think that the gym program that we've got at the footy club has been suited to him hitting PBs and feeling good. He's been growing and he's going really well.”
Dockers’ centre-square mix
Fremantle has already built a productive centre-square rotation around Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Murphy Reid and Jackson, and the numbers point to how much damage that group can do when it clicks. The Dockers score from 33 per cent of ball-ups when that combination is used, which gives them a direct route to the scoreboard when Jackson is winning or extending the contest.
The Carlton game sharpened that profile. Jackson was not just part of the centre-clearance chain; he finished it with goals, and Fremantle turned an area that often produces territory into a scoring source that matched its best output since 2019. For a club searching for repeatable offence from stoppages, that is the part of the night that will carry the most weight.
