Longmuir repays Freo faith with grand final appearance
Shayne Hope |
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has repaid the faith shown in him by the club hierarchy in steering his side to within touching distance of a maiden AFL premiership.
A subject of intense scrutiny at times throughout his tenure, Longmuir managed just one finals victory in his first six seasons at the helm.
But the Dockers stuck by their man and are reaping the rewards ahead of next week’s grand final against either Hawthorn or Brisbane.
“We definitely backed him in and he’s proven he’s worth his weight in gold,” club president Chris Sutherland told AAP.
“He’s done an amazing job the way he’s got our boys through some difficult times in the last month. He’s been tremendous.”
Longmuir led Fremantle to the minor premiership and is now the second man after Ross Lyon (2013) to coach the club to a grand final.
But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing this season.
The Dockers dropped two of their last three home-and-away games and were smashed by Hawthorn in the qualifying final, forcing them to take the long route to the premiership decider.
In Sydney on Friday night, they trailed the Swans by 28 points late in the third quarter, but kicked the last six goals of the game to win a classic preliminary final, 12.11(83) to 10.11 (71).
For a record-equalling eighth time this season, Fremantle came from behind at three-quarter time to win.
And the 21-point margin was the biggest three-quarter time deficit the Dockers have ever overcome to win an AFL match.
Longmuir’s calm demeanour and focus has been crucial in those victories.
“He keeps a very balanced head and that’s a great aspect of him,” Sutherland said.
“When everyone else is potentially thinking that there’s a catastrophe or a mini-crisis, no, he can see it as it is and gets the boys to play the game they need to play.”
A grand final appearance seemed a long way off at the start of the season, when there was external heat on Longmuir to deliver after the previous year’s finals flop.
That came just months after Fremantle confirmed Longmuir had agreed to an ongoing employment agreement, rather than a standard coaching contract with a set term.
The unusual deal intensified the spotlight on Longmuir and the club.
“We ignore all that noise. It doesn’t worry myself or the board,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland raised more than a few eyebrows on the eve of the 2025 season with his bold declaration that Fremantle were better placed than ever to win a premiership.
Critics scoffed and even poked fun at the Dockers when they lost a home final to Gold Coast last year.
Perhaps the president saw something others didn’t.
“We’ve always said that we want to put ourselves in a position to contend every year,” Sutherland said.
“We’ve given ourselves this opportunity this year and we’ll do our best to grab it. I’m looking forward to it.
“It was an amazing effort and it takes a whole club to get to a grand final, from (CEO) Simon (Garlick) and the football department and everyone.
“I couldn’t be more proud of everyone over the whole season to put us in this wonderful position.”
AAP