Fremantle star Caleb Serong has revealed he broke down to his partner during a raw and honest conversation about his AFL career at the end of last season, telling her, “I can’t do this anymore.”.
In Wednesday night’s episode of Seven’s Unfiltered, a candid Serong admits he struggled with his identity being tied so closely to how he performed on the football field every week.
That is, despite the 25-year-old being widely recognised as one of the best midfielders in the AFL for the past three seasons.
“I sat down with (his now-wife) Chloe and we were having a bottle of wine, as we do at the end of the year, sitting around and she just goes ‘how do you reflect on the year?’ and I just broke down,” Serong said.
“I just said ‘I’m exhausted, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it like this’.
“For me, I don’t think I was at a point where I can’t do footy anymore, it was just like I can’t do it this way.”
The Fremantle vice captain admits the timing felt “weird” given he had just taken home his third Doig Medal as the Dockers’ best and fairest player and earned his third straight All-Australian selection.
The Dockers had also returned to finals in 2025 after two seasons on the outer, before being knocked out in a heartbreaking one-point elimination final loss to Gold Coast in Perth.
“I was lucky enough and so proud and grateful to be All-Australian again, best and fairest again, and that means so much to me and I’ll reflect more on how much that means (later),” Serong said.
“But that feeling was fleeting, it wasn’t lasting for me.
“In the moment, it’s amazing. You celebrate with the people around you and you celebrate with your teammates and family and they’re so happy for you. But you get to the next day and you’re almost thinking, ‘OK, what’s next? and it’s almost that wait again.’”
The emotional revelation led to “a lot of different conversations” and reflections, according to Serong, and ultimately a visit to Fremantle’s Head of Leadership Andrew Sturgess.
Serong said Sturgess, also the opposition strategy coach at the Dockers, has since become a “life coach” for him.
“We sit down and speak every week and he’s guided me on this journey over the last six months,” Serong said.
Serong and his long-term partner Chloe, who met as teenagers and have been together since 2020, wed in a ceremony in Victoria in December last year.
The gun midfielder is set to return for the blockbuster clash with Geelong at Optus Stadium on Thursday night following a month on the sidelines with a calf injury as the Dockers look to avenge their Opening Round loss to the Cats.
Unfiltered with Caleb Serong, airs 9.30pm AWST Wednesday following The Front Bar on Seven and 7plus Sport.