For four sweet seconds Fremantle veteran Michael Walters would have thought his midfield wish had come true.
"He'll play mainly midfield," Dockers coach Justin Longmuir said on Tuesday.
"I think it's important that we really embed ..."
Then reality kicked in.
"Sorry, did I say midfield?" Longmuir asked sheepishly after realising his error.
"He'll play forward. Luckily I picked myself up on that. He'll play forward."
The issue of where Walters should play has been a hot talking point at Fremantle for the past two years.
Walters produced an All-Australian season in 2019 in a campaign where he was given the freedom to spend long stints in the midfield and drift up forward to create havoc.
The 31-year-old averaged 21.8 possessions and 3.7 clearances per game that year to go with his 40 goals.
But Walters has cut a frustrated figure over the past two years after being squeezed out of a regular midfield role.
In 2020, Walters booted just 15 goals from 14 games, and his output dropped to 14 goals from 16 games last year.
In 2021, his disposal average dropped to 14 per game.
Walters thrives when spending significant stints in the midfield, but the emergence of a new wave of on-ballers at the club means the 181-game veteran will again be largely stationed up forward this year.
"He's really committed to being a leader of the forward line and really embraced that role," Longmuir said of Walters, who recently re-signed until the end of 2023.
"But on the flipside it's important that we give him flexibility to be able to get into the game and play to his strengths.
"Although he'll play as a forward, you'll see times when he's in the midfield or the wing. We want to bring his best version out, and we think that's a good balance for him."
Despite Adam Cerra leaving for Carlton and the injury-interrupted pre-seasons of Nat Fyfe and David Mundy, Longmuir is confident he will have enough midfield weapons this year.
"When I say we're short in the midfield, we've just picked up a few injuries," Longmuir said.
"On our list we've got enough numbers to fill those midfield roles. We're not going to be short for round one, so it's not catastrophic.
"Will Brodie has impressed with what he's done. Connor Blakely has improved aspects of his game.
"Mitch Crowden has moved inside. Darcy Tucker has moved back into the midfield. They've all had good pre-seasons and they've all put their hand up."
