Coach Justin Longmuir Pt 2

[eastfreo75]

All the Negative Nancy’s want a premiership winning coach but they weren’t premiership winning coaches until they won one… I think he deserves at least the first 2/3’s of 2026 to see how our STILL VERY YOUNG LIST goes with another preseason into the minds and bodies of the young fellas regardless of next weeks result. We’ve been in good form but were probably due for a down week.
He’s got us to 15 wins already and in any other season we’d be locked into finals already, he clearly has the players and the game plan has shown to be capable of beating the best.
The forward line let us down last night but gee whiz Treacy/Amiss/Voss/Reid are all 22 or under right?
Is what it is can’t be world beaters every week and I’m not sure how many of you lot have actually played any sport but once you miss a heap of goals like last night it really can start to creep in-between the ears of everyone on the team.
We nearly hit the lead in the second term regardless of how terribly we were playing and the poo stained umpiring, if that had happened and he’d injected Fyfe in the 3rd (this was a mistake but could have been down to where the play was/runners getting the message out etc who knows?) to get the crowd going I think things could have been very different.
I really think they’re just not quite physically and mentally hard enough yet, that’s an age thing. Young sides have to EXCEPTIONALLY good to be the be good enough to go all the way. If they miss finals I think it’ll really stir them up and they’ll be breathing fire next year. I do think we could do with a high impact midfielder and/or another line breaking back flanker. Having a fit Hayden Young and NOD getting his mojo back would help with this. Throw the sink at NWM and get Brayshaw/Serong sell him the opportunity to be an immortal winning Freos first premiership I reckon.
Anyway that’s just my 2c.

List is good but the coach isn’t up to it.

 

[eastfreo75]

Of course it matters who the next coach is. If they determine that JLo isn’t the right man for the job they need to make sure that the next bloke is a significant improvement. Can’t just put an ad in the paper and get a heap of numpties apply and take the best available numpty.
Same as how I need a manager at my business and people keep telling me ‘you just need to get someone’ doesn’t work like that I need the right person.
Unless they can poach a Chris Scott/Buckely or convince Longmire to move west they stick with JLo. Sometimes it’s better the devil you know. FWIW I’m almost positive he’ll be here next year so I think point is diesel soot anyway.
And as previously mentioned I’d like to see how they go with another preseason under their belts anyway. Still too young to serisouly contend.
Also. Seasons not done yet every chance we steamroll the Bullies next week.

If nothing changes nothing changes. JLo had six years to make us a contender.

Time to move onto somebody else. All great coach were first years.

You really don’t know somebody will go until they do it.

As for the list, I think we have a solid team who can contend. The group has been resilient with a god awful structure and poor team selection.

 

[BigRang]

List is good but the coach isn’t up to it.

List is too young needs more time.
See what I did there? Answered your statement with a statement.
It’s a matter of opinion really.

 

[BigRang]

Blindly sticking to “the devil you know” is what got Port 15 seasons of Hinkley. Being too scared to make a decision because the current guy is “just alright” is poor management. The only difference between Hinkley and Longmuir is that Hinkley has proven he’s actually able to make finals more often than not.

There’s a very recent example very local to me where a high ranking public servant got the boot because people thought he was stale and things weren’t moving, a new person was parachuted into the role that had a great CV and talked really good game. Every was all ‘yeah this’ll be great a new person with a fresh perspective and fresh ideas’ etc…,
The old person is currently overseeing other projects with a new team, and smacking it out of the park, the new person got the arse for workplace bullying, misconduct, and basically couldn’t do the job the CV said they could.
Sometimes, it’s better the stable, calm devil you know.

 

[Pivot Piece]

There’s a very recent example very local to me where a high ranking public servant got the boot because people thought he was stale and things weren’t moving, a new person was parachuted into the role that had a great CV and talked really good game. Every was all ‘yeah this’ll be great a new person with a fresh perspective and fresh ideas’ etc…,
The old person is currently overseeing other projects with a new team, and smacking it out of the park, the new person got the arse for workplace bullying, misconduct, and basically couldn’t do the job the CV said they could.
Sometimes, it’s better the stable, calm devil you know.

Professional football isn’t like a workplace. Close enough isn’t good enough. If your guy can’t take you to the promised land he’s not your guy.

 

[eastfreo75]

List is too young needs more time.
See what I did there? Answered your statement with a statement.
It’s a matter of opinion really.

Fremantle	Attribute	Brisbane
188.9cm	Height	188.0cm
87.6kg	Weight	85.4kg
25yr 9mth	Age	26yr 8mth
106.1	Games	133.8
Total Players By Games​
	Fremantle	Games	Brisbane
5	Less than 50	5
4	50 to 99	4
9	100 to 149	1
4	150 to 200	8
1	200 or more	5

 

[Righteo]

Fyfe? He's not contributing anything atm, maybe some sweet memories.
Young? Injured all year.

We are only as good as our bottom 6 and it's not great esp. when the good players are well down. We have patchwork wingers. We have one weapon out of defense (Clark), list goes on.

Your bullshit crybaby stuff after a loss is hilarious. Not much to crow about for the last 13 weeks.

If we're really in such serious strife with only two best 23 players missing it begs the question - how much longer until the rebuild is complete? We have holes in a few positions, sure, but there was enough talent on the list to reach 15 wins. How are we suddenly not talented enough to get within 10 goals of Brisbane at home? Is lack of talent really the greatest issue at play here? Brisbane fielded Sam Day, Luke Beecken, Bruce Reville and Sam Marshall last night. A 33yo journeyman and a bunch of youngsters most of us couldn't pick out of a lineup. Is their bottom 4-5 really that much better than ours?

 

[BigRang]

Fremantle	Attribute	Brisbane
188.9cm	Height	188.0cm
87.6kg	Weight	85.4kg
25yr 9mth	Age	26yr 8mth
106.1	Games	133.8
Total Players By Games​
	Fremantle	Games	Brisbane
5	Less than 50	5
4	50 to 99	4
9	100 to 149	1
4	150 to 200	8
1	200 or more	5

So the reigning premiers are a year older with an extra 30 games experience?

 

[BigRang]

Professional football isn’t like a workplace. Close enough isn’t good enough. If your guy can’t take you to the promised land he’s not your guy.

Like it or not it’s very much a business. And stability is important. Unless you can get a serious upgrade there’s nothing wrong with treading water.

 

[BigPond101]

All the Negative Nancy’s want a premiership winning coach but they weren’t premiership winning coaches until they won one… I think he deserves at least the first 2/3’s of 2026 to see how our STILL VERY YOUNG LIST goes w

What happens if he has us around the middle of the ladder all next year then has some good wins at the end of the season and things are looking great but we agonisingly fall short and finish 9th

And if people say "That's it we should move him on, it's finals or gone next year" thats exactly what everyone was saying this year his 6th year already. Just seems like it will never end

 

[poshman]

There’s a very recent example very local to me where a high ranking public servant got the boot because people thought he was stale and things weren’t moving, a new person was parachuted into the role that had a great CV and talked really good game. Every was all ‘yeah this’ll be great a new person with a fresh perspective and fresh ideas’ etc…,
The old person is currently overseeing other projects with a new team, and smacking it out of the park, the new person got the arse for workplace bullying, misconduct, and basically couldn’t do the job the CV said they could.
Sometimes, it’s better the stable, calm devil you know.

This is a meaningless anecdote. Regarding your business, have you begun a search? Not looking is very different to wanting the right person but not looking.

Is it your belief that there isn’t one assistant or on the market coach who is better than Longmuir?

We know there are some available with better records and achievements.

Your thought process is certain to produce stagnation or more of the same. Apart from a fear of the incoming coach bullying or harassing employees… is there a non fear related reason why we shouldn’t be looking?

 

[poshman]

Like it or not it’s very much a business. And stability is important. Unless you can get a serious upgrade there’s nothing wrong with treading water.

Treading water isn’t sound business thinking. Sounds more like defeatist, fear based decision making.

The reason why it is bad business is because no business truly treads water. Every business that I’ve seen “treading water” starts to lose their best people and best clients fast.

We don’t want to tread water. I’ve never met a good or even above average business owner who isn’t close to retirement who thinks that way. There have been a couple of examples of owners who have had health issues and won’t hire. So the business fades away over a decade before they retire.

 

[FD2646]

Even if we miss finals, I think JLo keeps his job.

Agree.... unfortunately. I think he has improved us somewhat this year (credit where it's due), but my biggest issue is our lack of mongrel and ability to destroy inferior opposition. I don't think JL is capable of instilling the killer instinct in this group. Some of that could be maturity. I'm convinced a coach like Longmire would whip our players into shape very quickly (certainly quicker than it is currently taking) or they would learn about their footy mortality quickly.

 

[BigRang]

This is a meaningless anecdote. Regarding your business, have you begun a search? Not looking is very different to wanting the right person but not looking.

Is it your belief that there isn’t one assistant or on the market coach who is better than Longmuir?

We know there are some available with better records and achievements.

Your thought process is certain to produce stagnation or more of the same. Apart from a fear of the incoming coach bullying or harassing employees… is there a non fear related reason why we shouldn’t be looking?

No it’s not. It’s an example of sacking someone because people thought change for the sake of change was needed.
As far as my business goes we are looking quietly and not advertising because we don’t want to deal with a bunch of numpties, and when the right person comes along we’ll chase them and make them an offer, but we’re not going to put some random person into a role just because we need someone.
No doubt there are people on the market with better records than Longmuir, whether they’ll be better than him at Fremantle or even want the job are unknowns.
I’d be disappointed if the board weren’t constantly and quietly hunting for the right person in the background.
If you want to PM me about more business stuff feel free. I’m quite an optimistic person really, romanced my wife today, did some jobs outside in the unreal WA winter weather, had a laugh with my daughters etc. So you and I can surely find some common ground…
The ‘sack him now’ bullshit irks me, we’d won 11/13 or something?
You can’t tell me that chucking the toys out of the cot like that after one loss to the reigning premier isn’t reactionary and chucking a tantrum and sacking people is the best course of action when you look at the whole picture? The season isn’t even done???
Anyway this is why I try to stay out of here after a loss, we’re all grumpy.
Like I said PM me if you want.

 

[Randomizor]

No it’s not. It’s an example of sacking someone because people thought change for the sake of change was needed.
As far as my business goes we are looking quietly and not advertising because we don’t want to deal with a bunch of numpties, and when the right person comes along we’ll chase them and make them an offer, but we’re not going to put some random person into a role just because we need someone.
No doubt there are people on the market with better records than Longmuir, whether they’ll be better than him at Fremantle or even want the job are unknowns.
I’d be disappointed if the board weren’t constantly and quietly hunting for the right person in the background.
If you want to PM me about more business stuff feel free. I’m quite an optimistic person really, romanced my wife today, did some jobs outside in the unreal WA winter weather, had a laugh with my daughters etc. So you and I can surely find some common ground…
The ‘sack him now’ bullshit irks me, we’d won 11/13 or something?
You can’t tell me that chucking the toys out of the cot like that after one loss to the reigning premier isn’t reactionary and chucking a tantrum and sacking people is the best course of action when you look at the whole picture? The season isn’t even done???
Anyway this is why I try to stay out of here after a loss, we’re all grumpy.
Like I said PM me if you want.

Change for the sake of change?

How about change because we look likely to miss finals for yet another year?

Change because our percentage is abysmal for a team that purports itself to be competing?

Change because it’s been 6 years without meaningful progress?

But sure, everyone wants to change the coach just for shits and giggles.

 

[Farrand]

 

[Farrand]

Alrighty people we're all entitled to different opinions, but if we can't keep it relatively respectful then we'll need to tidy it up.

I can understand how it can be triggering when some people with with a certain view only light up after a loss, or after a win, but on the Freo board we're pretty proud we don't try and tell you what opinion to have.

We will draw the line at personal attacks though.

And please also stop picking on cockroaches, they're really just a misunderstood super-creature.
(Hmm maybe Banfield does have more in common with them than I realised.. )

 

[Fat Nyfe]

Fremantle	Attribute	Brisbane
188.9cm	Height	188.0cm
87.6kg	Weight	85.4kg
25yr 9mth	Age	26yr 8mth
106.1	Games	133.8
Total Players By Games​
	Fremantle	Games	Brisbane
5	Less than 50	5
4	50 to 99	4
9	100 to 149	1
4	150 to 200	8
1	200 or more	5

That profile is damning. That just has to be playing finals and contending, especially when you consider most of our major movers are in that 100-149 bracket.

I don’t think there will be a more cherry ripe list in the comp in 2026 in terms of age/experience profile. The “but we’re so young” crew are completely blindsided to the fact that our best players are nearly all in their prime or on the cust of entering it. But we’ll likely be going into next year with zilch finals experience and instead of fighting tooth and nail for a flag people will be satisfied with the sugar hit of finals because we’re so starved of it.

JL had the whole year. It’s nice that he managed to dig us out of the hole we were in but from the moment we stepped out in Round 1 and got smashed off the park until Round 10, there was no consistency in our game.

It’s finals or bust for him this year. Coaches show themselves in finals pressure and we’re lucky enough to have had two finals before the finals this year - the first test was failed, and he gets another go next week. If he fails again, there is really no point in continuing to kick this can down the road. We’d have all the evidence we need.

 

[Fat Nyfe]

It’s all just shouting into the ether though, JL will 100% be retained and we’ll be running it back next year.

 

[swanny1234]

Ultimately, with Longmuir, there really is only one question that needs to be answered.

“Do you honestly believe he is capable of being a premiership coach?”

If your answer is yes, then by all means, back him - we disagree.

If your answer is no, or you have significant doubts, then why on earth should we be giving him a 7th year?

The club obviously thinks yes, but I’ve seen no evidence to in any way support their belief.

 

[eastfreo75]

So the reigning premiers are a year older with an extra 30 games experience?

That’s not a massive gap and we had more players in the 100-149 games bracket.

I really don’t buy the argument that we are too young.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Ultimately, with Longmuir, there really is only one question that needs to be answered.

“Do you honestly believe he is capable of being a premiership coach?”

If your answer is yes, then by all means, back him - we disagree.

If your answer is no, or you have significant doubts, then why on earth should we be giving him a 7th year?

The club obviously thinks yes, but I’ve seen no evidence to in any way support their belief.

If he stays, we need a new senior assistant coach to help.

Gws already have Goodwin lines up.

My fear is we make no changes to coaching or list, and hope for a better result.

 

[BigPond101]

The problem is with a good list and home ground advantage Freo will never finish bottom 4, a blind penguin could coach this team to 9th or 10th. Which means JL will always keep his position because "We are so close!!! Why break up a team on the verge of something special?"

Like Ken Hinkley except he was close to making a GF and we are close to making the 8. Freo standards

 

[blue shark]

If he stays, we need a new senior assistant coach to help.

Gws already have Goodwin lines up.

My fear is we make no changes to coaching or list, and hope for a better result.

No it will be which trade will find the missing piece to ultimate glory.
Jlo will do ten years here easily. Unfortunately some of the supporters have been
here since the beginning, and know we are a minnow club mindset.

Club has acted only once with a ruthlessness, and instead of highlighting our only
period of being feared, we just should accept a participation award.

We saw a perfect example of finals type football, and the gameplan, coaching and lack
of speed either mind or body proved we are kidding ourselves.

 

[Gimme the Fyfe]

I can't handle all the negativity on the board right now, its too much.. I'm switching on the ABC and watching world news and geopolitics.