Dynamic forward Shai Bolton joins Fremantle Dockers for first training session

Dynamic forward Shai Bolton, the player Fremantle hopes will take it to the premiership promised land, has made his first appearance on the training track. The 25-year-old only arrived in Perth from Melbourne on Wednesday night and after a tour of the club’s Cockburn facilities on Thursday met his new teammates for the first time on Friday. He then took part in a two-hour morning training session that featured running, handball and kicking drills, peppered with high-fives and back slaps from the Dockers squad, before the group sat down for lunch together. Sporting a grey Dockers cap and purple training kit, there was no mistaking the Bolton gait, the explosive short bursts of running, with one lace-out pass to forward Jye Amiss a glimpse into what Fremantle hopes will be a regular match-winning one-two punch. Traded to Fremantle in exchange for picks 10, 11 and 18, while pick 14 and a future third-round selection also came the other way, the dual Richmond premiership player had a slight delay to his arrival after the birth of his daughter. Originally from Katanning, his shift back to WA after eight years with the Tigers came with a desire to be closer to family for both Bolton and his partner Hasina. It will take time to learn the on-field nuances and running patterns of his Dockers teammates, but he wasted no time in getting to know them on Friday, locked in conversation with Andrew Brayshaw and jogging to the far side of the oval for a close-up catch up and handball and tackling drills with veterans Nat Fyfe and Jaegar O’Meara. “It feels like playing junior football again, with all your family, cousins and everyon watching you play. You just can’t help but get excited,” he said on Wednesday. Bolton has signed a five-year deal with the Dockers. Former Fremantle executive Peter Bell said earlier this month the addition of Bolton gave the Dockers a “top-four list”. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but as the type of player — he’s exactly what Fremantle needed,” Bell said on 6PR. “He is exactly that missing piece, I feel… that mid/forward, that X-factor, that ability to create scores from chances that other people perhaps couldn’t capitalise on. “He does put good pressure on the ball as well, and he makes defenders nervous. I think they’re really well-placed. I think it’s a pretty complete list. I think it’s a top-four list, personally, now.” Fox Footy analyst Jordan Lewis said Bolton could create “nightmares” for opposition coaches. “He’s clearly an A-grade player. You look at what they add to that particular side, he will be an absolute jet centre forward for them and allow them to do more things in the middle of the ground and ask more questions of the opposition, which is a nightmare,” Lewis said. Draftees Murphy Reid, Charlie Nicholls and Aiden Riddle also made their first appearance with the Dockers after fitness clearances earlier in the week. Jaren Carr, the son of former Docker Matthew and also part of the 2024 draft crop. Ruckman Sean Darcy walked and jogged laps as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.