‘It’s bulldust’: Dockers doing it for Longmuir
Justin Chadwick |
Fremantle defender Luke Ryan has opened up about the group’s love for Justin Longmuir, saying he’s been left in disbelief at times this season by the criticism directed at the sixth-year coach.
The Dockers will return to finals action for the first time since 2022 on Saturday night when they host Gold Coast in an elimination final at Optus Stadium.
The knives were out for Longmuir following the club’s 61-point loss to St Kilda in round eight, which left Fremantle nursing a 4-4 record.
And North Melbourne great David King questioned whether Longmuir was the right man to lead the Dockers to premiership glory after they lost to Sydney by 11 points at the SCG in round 17.
That stinging criticism was particularly surprising given Fremantle were on a six-game winning streak before that tight loss.
More questions about Longmuir’s future were raised following the 57-point home loss to the Brisbane Lions in the penultimate round, but the doubters were quietened a week later when Freo upset the Western Bulldogs by 15 points to secure a spot in the finals.
“I say the criticism is bullshit,” Ryan told AAP.
“Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach cop so much more shit than JL.
“Even when we had won 11 out of 12 games … we lose one game after that, and it (the outside noise) is just like it’s all on him, like he’s the worst coach.
“But he stayed true to us. We stayed true to him, and we’ll keep playing for him. We love him as a coach.”
A heart-to-heart chat amongst the player group following the calamitous 61-point loss to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium proved to be the turning point of the season.
Ryan was one of the leaders who got up to confront the group straight after that game.
Fremantle won 12 of their next 15 matches to lock in just their second finals berth since 2015, and they are backing themselves to give the premiership a red hot crack this year.
“I sort of felt like we were playing as individuals. We weren’t playing as a team,” Ryan said.
“We were just playing a soft brand of footy, a selfish brand of footy. And I think after that, everyone agreed.
“We had a good players chat. A lot of the leaders chimed in. A few other boys chimed in and agreed.
“And we bought into it after that game – we are such a different team from that game to now.”
Fremantle enter Saturday’s match with 51 games of finals experience.
In contrast, Gold Coast only have 21 games of finals experience across three players – former Tiger Daniel Rioli (13 games), ex-Pie John Noble (seven) and former Saint Ben Long (one).
The final siren will bring to an end one great career – either that of Fremantle’s two-time Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe, or former Gold Coast captain David Swallow.
The Dockers have recalled Isaiah Dudley and Nathan O’Driscoll for Sam Switkowski (knee) and Corey Wagner (pec), while Swallow comes in for Jake Rogers in the Suns’ only change.
AAP
