Why Kysaiah Pickett’s texts to Fremantle players could mean everything — or nothing

There’s no denying Kysaiah Pickett has been texting Fremantle players about his future. JON RALPH reveals what the star Demon said — and analyses what it means.

Kysaiah Pickett. Picture: Getty Images

Kysaiah Pickett has been texting his mates who play for Fremantle telling them he will be in Dockers colours next year.

That is a fact as he prepares to head west for the frenzy that will be created by his Indigenous All-Stars appearance next week.

To suggest anything more is pure conjecture as multiple clubs try to get to the bottom of the enigma that is the 23-year-old Demons’ matchwinning premiership player.

Fresh from a fourth placing in Melbourne’s best-and-fairest last year, Pickett has been in Darwin in recent days – a city he would ideally call home, if only the city had an AFL team.

Instead, Pickett lives in Melbourne after spending his childhood across two states – an early stint in Western Australia before living with relative Byron Pickett in Adelaide, before being drafted to Victoria.

Kysaiah Pickett’s future is up in the air. Picture: Getty Images

Once again this summer, Pickett has been at the forefront of headlines over a move to the Dockers, fanning the flames after liking a social media post about a potential move.

Melbourne is used to this predicament – Pickett spends time with rival AFL players outside Victoria during the off-season; they whisper sweet nothings about him playing alongside them.

Last year it was Port Adelaide that came hard, given the links to good mate Quinton Narkle, after the Cats’ midfielder was signed by the Power in the 2023 mid-season draft.

Only time will tell whether 2025 is Groundhog Day or something much more substantial.

Narkle has since moved to play with Fremantle. Pickett is also friends with new Dockers recruit Shai Bolton and Michael Walters as well as his Demons’ premiership teammate Luke Jackson.

Former Demon Luke Jackson is one of Pickett’s many links to Fremantle. Picture: Getty Images

Narkle’s partner, Taylah Cubillo, is the sister of Pickett’s partner Ardu Cubillo. Both couples have been blessed with children since August 2023, which has only strengthened the bond.

But there is no guarantee Narkle will be at the Dockers in 2026, with both couples keen to end up back in Darwin post-football no matter where the players finish their playing careers.

Fremantle and West Coast have made clear their interest in Pickett across the years – and recently – as the Demons rebuffed any trade prospects when the small forward told coach Simon Goodwin he was, at times, homesick in their exit meeting last year.

So Melbourne will wrap its arms around him with support again and hope when his three-week AFL suspension expires, he again falls back in love with the city and the club.

If the season turns pear-shaped, there is some chance he could officially ask for a trade, but the Demons could just as easily rebuff it. There are no guarantees. He shares a strong friendship with Goodwin, but the senior coach is not certain to be at the club past this season.

Goodwin with Pickett after the Demons’ final game of 2024. Picture: Getty Images

He is hugely motivated for the Indigenous game in WA, but that three-week ban is problematic because it is hard to get up for a season in which his first game for Melbourne is on April 4.

The very best-case scenario is Pickett helps lead this team towards a deep finals run that allows the Demons to hold firm on a contract through to 2027.

But Melbourne has perhaps its three most talented players in Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Pickett all under a degree of doubt about their futures past this season.

Oliver and Petracca seem motivated to prove their critics wrong and Melbourne would reason that Pickett has always performed despite uncertainty about his future.

So that flurry of texts to his Dockers mates could mean everything or nothing, depending on how the Demons’ season of reckoning pans out across the next eight months.

Originally published as Why Kysaiah Pickett’s texts to Fremantle players could mean everything — or nothing