Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir credits trust and treating players like men for interstate victoriesCraig O’DonoghueThe West AustralianSun, 10 August 2025 2:20PMCommentsCommentsEmail Craig O’Donoghue
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir credits a decision to start treating the players like adults, instead of trying to control them when interstate, for their success when on the road this year.
The Dockers won their fifth interstate game of the season on Saturday night when they came from behind to beat Port Adelaide 13.14 (92) to 13.8 (86).
The team has now won five of the last six interstate games, having been thrashed by Geelong and St Kilda earlier in the year and also below their best in a loss to Melbourne.
Longmuir said he came to the realisation that players needed more freedom before they travelled to play GWS, and the group had responded to the show of faith.
“The turning point was the GWS game. We went up there, really valuing the right things and played as a team,” he said.
“We started trusting the players a little bit more and treating them as adults on the road and gave them the responsibility to look after their own prep. We trust that they’ll rock up and play like men.
“That was the moment where we started building a bit of belief on the road. We went to Gold Coast and beat them. The last couple of road trips have been fruitful. Our ability to block out the crowd and play every moment on its merits has been a highlight on the road as well.”
The Dockers still have one more interstate game to come, with a match against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium in the last round. Their premiership dreams also rest on their ability to win outside of Perth.
But while Fremantle have won 11 of their 12 matches and come from behind to beat St Kilda, Hawthorn, Collingwood, Carlton and Port Adelaide, Longmuir knows they must be more consistent. He described the second term, where they conceded eight goals, as “our worst 15 minutes of footy that we’ve played in a long time”.
But Longmuir said the players responded to some harsh words and tactical changes.
“It was a bit of a spray because we were minus 14 in the contest and laid six tackles for the quarter which is not the team we want to be,” he said.
“But there was a little bit of method to it as well. They were coming out of the contest too much, not just centre bounce. It was all contests around the ground. We moved Jaeger (O’Meara) into a different role which I felt gave us a bit of protection at contests.
“Then he went to the wing and Nat Fyfe came on and played that role. I thought that shored up the contest balance for us a bit. When we got the contest right, we looked dangerous in our front half.”
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails
Read more on The West Australian
