Dockers veteran Nat Fyfe saw signs as early as 2021 the game was starting to pass him by, but what made him so worried back then could end up taking him to the promised land in the coming weeks.

Fyfe looms as either the fairytale or heartbreak story of the upcoming AFL finals series, with the two-time Brownlow Medal winner having just one more chance to claim an elusive flag before retiring.

Nat Fyfe hopes his final hurrah at Fremantle will end with a premiership.Credit: Getty Images

The last time Fyfe tasted finals action – in 2015 – he was still at the top of his game and on the cusp of winning his first Brownlow.

Such was Fyfe’s dominance at the time, he was one of the best players on the ground in that 2015 preliminary final loss to Hawthorn, despite fracturing his leg early in the game.

Fyfe would go on to win his second Brownlow in 2019, with the AFL world seemingly at his feet.

But just two years later, the then 29-year-old started seeing some worrying signs.

It was during Fremantle’s 2021 pre-season campaign, with rising stars such as Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw whizzing around him, when doubts started creeping into Fyfe’s mind.

“I had more than one moment over the pre-season where I........

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