Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is under renewed pressure for his “laughable” response to questions around the Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson ruck combination.

But he may not have to deal with the pairing for too much longer.

Two and a half months after 7NEWS chief football reporter Mitch Cleary revealed rival clubs were monitoring Jackson as a trade target, the prospect has remained “well and truly alive” and now a new report says the ruckman is expected to request a move back to his former club Melbourne.

Jackson wants to return to the Demons, according to the West Australian, which added his “significant off-field issues” have been addressed by all camps in recent weeks.

The 23-year-old is under contract until 2029 but Melbourne’s need to pay up big in a trade for their 2021 premiership hero could be offset by Kysaiah Pickett going the other way.

Dees captain Max Gawn, still in great form but turning 34 later this year, made a subtle reference to Jackson’s potential return on radio this week.

“WA is an unbelievable to place to be when you’re 18, 19, like it’s a great party and these Perth boys go back at 22 and all their mates have sort of grown up a bit,” he said on Triple M.

“There’s so many people that got a trade back to WA and then came back, not mentioning one that potentially could be coming back soon ... let’s hope.”

Jackson’s move west would reset the Dockers’ ruck plans for the future.

Darcy is under contract until 2030 but has dealt with injuries in recent years, and again suffered a knee injury last weekend that could rule him out of this Saturday’s clash with GWS.

Despite their individual talents the dual ruck pairing of Jackson and Darcy has not been a barnstorming success, with The Agenda Setters host Kane Cornes describing it as a “failing” operation.

Longmuir on Tuesday said he would stick to the plan but admitted he could have considered moving Darcy to the forward line in the loss to Collingwood prior to his injury.

“We wanted to keep energy up around the ball,” he said.

“I’d just like a little more evidence and love a little more time for them to be able to work together.”

Cornes has been a heavy critic of Darcy’s long-term deal but he and Luke Hodge said the problems clearly extend beyond the contract and into coaching and team selection.

“Maybe I’m the wrong person to speak about this. But the response is laughable,” he said.

“He played 34 minutes in the first half because they wanted to have more energy and the ball and next time we would play more forward.

“More forward so you can be even taller than what you were on the weekend when four tall giants kept flying for the ball — Jye Amiss, Josh Treacy, Pat Voss, Jackson — and Darcy? I just don’t get it.

“You need to be a bit more honest with your fans because that’s misleading.”

Hodge agreed the “energy” remark was unusual “when they had Jackson playing in the midfield as an onballer, as well, not as the ruckman”.

“I’m looking further back to the list management. Who made the call to bring them both over? If you go after Jackson, you can’t sign Darcy on a seven-year deal,” the four-time premiership great said.

“He feels obligated to play him because otherwise you’ve got two blokes that are getting paid $800,000 to a million bucks (and) one of them is playing in the WAFL.”

Fremantle sit 11th on the ladder with a 4-5 record.