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Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe officially signs new six-year deal with Dockers

Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe has turned his back on more than a million dollars, and potentially as much as double that sum, to recommit to the Dockers on a long-term contract, it was announced on Monday morning.

The Brownlow medallist has penned a new six-year deal worth about $1.2 million a season or roughly $7 million over the life of the contract.

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That amount puts him among the game's top money-earners but was still short of how much he could have earned as a free agent.

The contract is also significantly less than he might have been able to demand of his own club but Fyfe wanted to leave the Dockers room in their salary cap to keep young talent and chase new recruits, according to his manager Jason Dover.

"This is a good deal for both the player and the club. Certainly Nat could have earned considerably more over the life of a new contract if he chose to leave. How much more we won't know because he never went to market and was never seriously in his thinking," Dover said.

"He's also been unselfish in what he's asked of Fremantle. He could have pushed for a lot more but he wanted to make sure there was money there for them to re-sign their young talent and recruit for a tilt at the flag."

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Fyfe could have commanded at least $1.5million a year and probably more than that and potentially an even longer term contract were he prepared to exercise his free agency rights and move clubs.

The club confirmed it was the longest contract extension in the club's history. Fyfe will be 31 in the final year of the deal.

"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity. Freo has been my home since the start of my career and I've since grown into a leadership role," Fyfe said in a statement on Monday morning. 

"I really love playing for the club and I'm really grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to be here for the next six years."

Fairfax Media revealed the contract re-signing on Friday 

As a Docker for what be likely to be the rest of his career, the 2015 Brownlow medallist said his ultimate goal remained securing the club's first premiership and that the players were "dog-hungry" to improve.

"I think we've got a group who are really willing to learn and aren't interested in waiting around for their careers to follow a natural trajectory," Fyfe said.

"Clearly, we want to deliver Fremantle their first premiership. It's a really lofty and ambitious goal. We're all going to work as hard as we can towards that."

Fremantle's general manager of list management Brad Lloyd said that throughout the negotiations it was clear Fyfe wanted to stay..

"It was very clear throughout the process that Nat was firmly committed to staying at Fremantle," Lloyd said. 

"We feel that we have a really young exciting group coming through, who have come on throughout the 2017 season in particular. As captain, Nat is a key leader for those young players and the rest of the playing group, so it's a really pivotal step for where we're taking the club."

Originally published on theage.com.au as 'Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe officially signs new six-year deal with Dockers'.