Coach Justin Longmuir Pt 2

[Andy Brennan]

I don't have a 'number' to satisfy your bloodlust. I don't also try pre empt the future and when it turns out correct in hindsight, but also stay positive until then. That's how I like to enjoy my hobbies and sports

PS.. I can tell you though.. it's not 1 lol

We lost our last game of 2025 too

 

[anchor man]

If we sacked him tomorrow, what other club would pick him up?

That is a ludicrous assessment. The question is, if he is sacked where do they find a coach.
Name me coaches who would want to come to WA,. It would be another never tried coach like the Eagles have in Mcqualter.

 

[anchor man]

You must be new here, welcome.

We were out of it half way into the 2nd after being 5 up, and any long time Freo supporter called it with disturbing accuracy whilst it was happening.

Cudos for you thinking we had a chance deep into the 4th, stick around a while and see the parttern.

Speaking of new comers, a debutant V a club legend!!!.
Really.

 

[Randomizor]

That is a ludicrous assessment. The question is, if he is sacked where do they find a coach.
Name me coaches who would want to come to WA,. It would be another never tried coach like the Eagles have in Mcqualter.

Well there is that guy that shares his last name with our favourite yellow family

 

[ubiquitous226]

We're all prone to our own tinted glasses and biases, but ultimately once someone is convinced their position is right and they refuse to consider any other alternative explanations there isn't a lot that can be done.
I am not convinced Longmuir will lead us to success, but I do think he has been successful at a number of elements, and rebuild coaches don't usually last so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My hot take you didn't want or need, hopefully outside of the short term emotional response to losing a game we dominated early.

Pros
Long term commitments of players
Impressive development across a number of players
Stable club with solid foundations

Cons
Lack of finals
Poor team response to major games
Perceived poor media performer

I'll leave out selection gripes, because literally every BigFooty board or social media 'experience' I've ever read has fans complaining their coach plays favourites and they don't know what they're doing, etc. etc. so I've just accepted it's human nature.

Previously the slow starts were a big complaint, time will tell how that's progressing but the single data point we have from this year was good, and I think there were some steps taken last year.
We had some big comeback wins last year, and whether you can see the coaching adjustments or not there have clearly been some moves, but it seemed more holistic in round 1.

Personally I think they should pull the trigger on a captaincy change to either Serong or Treacy, if only because their approaches will be more complementary externally than Longmuir and Pearce, although I don't put much stock in the complaining about his media skills or what I consider the pathetic labelling of "mumbles" - leaders come in many different varieties and he's demonstrated he'll hit out when he needs to.

 

[oldgoat]

That is a ludicrous assessment. The question is, if he is sacked where do they find a coach.
Name me coaches who would want to come to WA,. It would be another never tried coach like the Eagles have in Mcqualter.

The bargain trolley at Bunnings...
I.e. the stuff nobody else wants

 

[Andy Brennan]

We're all prone to our own tinted glasses and biases, but ultimately once someone is convinced their position is right and they refuse to consider any other alternative explanations there isn't a lot that can be done.
I am not convinced Longmuir will lead us to success, but I do think he has been successful at a number of elements, and rebuild coaches don't usually last so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My hot take you didn't want or need, hopefully outside of the short term emotional response to losing a game we dominated early.

Pros
Long term commitments of players
Impressive development across a number of players
Stable club with solid foundations

Cons
Lack of finals
Poor team response to major games
Perceived poor media performer

I'll leave out selection gripes, because literally every BigFooty board or social media 'experience' I've ever read has fans complaining their coach plays favourites and they don't know what they're doing, etc. etc. so I've just accepted it's human nature.

Previously the slow starts were a big complaint, time will tell how that's progressing but the single data point we have from this year was good, and I think there were some steps taken last year.
We had some big comeback wins last year, and whether you can see the coaching adjustments or not there have clearly been some moves, but it seemed more holistic in round 1.

Personally I think they should pull the trigger on a captaincy change to either Serong or Treacy, if only because their approaches will be more complementary externally than Longmuir and Pearce, although I don't put much stock in the complaining about his media skills or what I consider the pathetic labelling of "mumbles" - leaders come in many different varieties and he's demonstrated he'll hit out when he needs to.

Fair take. I think a lot of JL hate depends on the question being asked.

Do I think he's done good things for the club? Yes.

Do I think he wins us a flag? Probably not

 

[swanny1234]

Fair take. I think a lot of JL hate depends on the question being asked.

Do I think he's done good things for the club? Yes.

Do I think he wins us a flag? Probably not

The second question is the only one that matters. Is this a football club? Yes, what is the purpose of a football club? Win premierships. Can JLo win a flag? No.

I have no doubt he’s a lovely guy, the players like him, he’s made it a nice place to be around - all great stuff, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. It really is that binary in my eyes.

 

[swanny1234]

That is a ludicrous assessment. The question is, if he is sacked where do they find a coach.
Name me coaches who would want to come to WA,. It would be another never tried coach like the Eagles have in Mcqualter.

McRae won a flag in his second season, I have no issue turning to an untried senior coach if they present well, go through the process properly and pick the best candidate. I reckon Melbourne have got a very good one in Steven King too, and am a bit nervous about this week.

We all know this didn't happen when JLo was selected - it was a process run by Peter Bell, and JLo always had the inside running - with Sumich and Solomon (both who also had WA & Freo connections) the only real alternatives considered.

 

[ubiquitous226]

The second question is the only one that matters. Is this a football club? Yes, what is the purpose of a football club? Win premierships. Can JLo win a flag? No.

I have no doubt he’s a lovely guy, the players like him, he’s made it a nice place to be around - all great stuff, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. It really is that binary in my eyes.

You've made it clear you think the second question is black and white.

My argument would be without what Longmuir has contributed we wouldn't be in this spot.
If the club (i.e. not you and I) decide he's not likely to be able to take us to a flag then we should look for an upgrade - there's no doubt about that.

I doubt any of us have a view as to what is realistically available to us as a club coach wise.
McRae and to a lesser extent Kingsley did well, but for each one of them there's a Bolton, Noble, etc. so it's not like it's without risk.
It's easy to complain from the outside, and if they fail it's even easier to pot them, decision making isn't that easy when you're accountable.

Go too early and you just destabilise the club, wait too long and you waste time and resources.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

We're all prone to our own tinted glasses and biases, but ultimately once someone is convinced their position is right and they refuse to consider any other alternative explanations there isn't a lot that can be done.
I am not convinced Longmuir will lead us to success, but I do think he has been successful at a number of elements, and rebuild coaches don't usually last so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My hot take you didn't want or need, hopefully outside of the short term emotional response to losing a game we dominated early.

Pros
Long term commitments of players
Impressive development across a number of players
Stable club with solid foundations

Cons
Lack of finals
Poor team response to major games
Perceived poor media performer

I'll leave out selection gripes, because literally every BigFooty board or social media 'experience' I've ever read has fans complaining their coach plays favourites and they don't know what they're doing, etc. etc. so I've just accepted it's human nature.

Previously the slow starts were a big complaint, time will tell how that's progressing but the single data point we have from this year was good, and I think there were some steps taken last year.
We had some big comeback wins last year, and whether you can see the coaching adjustments or not there have clearly been some moves, but it seemed more holistic in round 1.

Personally I think they should pull the trigger on a captaincy change to either Serong or Treacy, if only because their approaches will be more complementary externally than Longmuir and Pearce, although I don't put much stock in the complaining about his media skills or what I consider the pathetic labelling of "mumbles" - leaders come in many different varieties and he's demonstrated he'll hit out when he needs to.

Spot on. I've ummed and ahh'd about doing some long diatribe on peoples opinions of JL but I dont know how to do it without coming across condescending and I feel like I'm a big enough of a condescending w***er on here anyway. I go between finding it annoying, tiring and just flat out laughable how a loss = JL is a fraud, win = I'll bite my tongue till we lose next. Like, why cant we apply any sort of deeper review to the game outside lose = coach sucks. Do you guys that keep blaming the same people after every loss regardless of what happened not realise how silly you look?

My completely unsolicited advice to people who maybe on self reflection have found that too much of their mood on the weekend is dictated by how Freo go (which seems to be the case for a few), that watching the game on delay with a couple of live checks on the score has helped me a lot. Side thought, for some reason, I get a lot shittier watching a bad performance on TV than I do at the ground. Not sure why that is.

I also find you get a much less biased opinion on how players played because you dont ride every mistake as if they've just shot your mother in front of your eyes.

 

[swanny1234]

You've made it clear you think the second question is black and white.

My argument would be without what Longmuir has contributed we wouldn't be in this spot.
If the club (i.e. not you and I) decide he's not likely to be able to take us to a flag then we should look for an upgrade - there's no doubt about that.

I doubt any of us have a view as to what is realistically available to us as a club coach wise.
McRae and to a lesser extent Kingsley did well, but for each one of them there's a Bolton, Noble, etc. so it's not like it's without risk.
It's easy to complain from the outside, and if they fail it's even easier to pot them, decision making isn't that easy when you're accountable.

Go too early and you just destabilise the club, wait too long and you waste time and resources.

That;s a reasonably balanced and fair viewpoint, and I take some of what you've said onboard here, but my counter here would be that I simply think what Longmuir has contributed to this point sits at the absolute bare minimum as to what you would expect any senior coach to deliver and nothing more, and at no point in his now 7 season tenure has he really looked like taking the side anywhere close to a flag.

If your point is that he's been a good list builder, fair enough, we can debate that, but how much of that is him and how much is Walls? I'd suggest the latter probably deserves a bit credit than JLo does. I'm just totally uninspired and disenfranchised with the club under Longmuir that it just feels like a never ending cycle of disappointment (and yes this sums up the club long before JLo, but at least under Ross we had 4 genuinely competitive years where I felt genuine hope).

The problem I have is we're just ok under this coach, we're not terrible enough to force him out, and not good enough to win a flag - it's just a darned frustrating place to be, and i'll fully admit round 1 pissed me off to what some might argue is an overreaction after such a big summer of wishful thinking that we might finally be something more than a bunch of also-rans.

 

[mattis117]

Spot on. I've ummed and ahh'd about doing some long diatribe on peoples opinions of JL but I dont know how to do it without coming across condescending and I feel like I'm a big enough of a condescending w***er on here anyway. I go between finding it annoying, tiring and just flat out laughable how a loss = JL is a fraud, win = I'll bite my tongue till we lose next. Like, why cant we apply any sort of deeper review to the game outside lose = coach sucks. Do you guys that keep blaming the same people after every loss regardless of what happened not realise how silly you look?

My completely unsolicited advice to people who maybe on self reflection have found that too much of their mood on the weekend is dictated by how Freo go (which seems to be the case for a few), that watching the game on delay with a couple of live checks on the score has helped me a lot. Side thought, for some reason, I get a lot shittier watching a bad performance on TV than I do at the ground. Not sure why that is.

I also find you get a much less biased opinion on how players played because you dont ride every mistake as if they've just shot your mother in front of your eyes.

You're a mod again?

On this, I hate the pig headeness and solitary blame on the coach because it devolves what is otherwise an amazing discussion platform into nothing better than the comments section of a Facebook post.

If your intellectual contribution is limited to singular blame to one of several variables then you become annoying very quickly.

I truly don't understand how some people think repeating themselves ad nauseam is content that other people want to read.

This is a discussion forum, not a political lobbying platform.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

You're a mod again?

On this, I hate the pig headeness and solitary blame on the coach because it devolves what is otherwise an amazing discussion platform into nothing better than the comments section of a Facebook post.

If your intellectual contribution is limited to singular blame to one of several variables then you become annoying very quickly.

I've been mod at DTFA again for a while, not on Freo board

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

You're a mod again?

On this, I hate the pig headeness and solitary blame on the coach because it devolves what is otherwise an amazing discussion platform into nothing better than the comments section of a Facebook post.

If your intellectual contribution is limited to singular blame to one of several variables then you become annoying very quickly.

I truly don't understand how some people think repeating themselves ad nauseam is content that other people want to read.

This is a discussion forum, not a political lobbying platform.

I suppose I get it that people like to use it to vent but there is a vent thread (that the positivity people should stay out of and dont to be fair) and there are social media platforms to do that on.

BF has the best structure for footy discussion, far better than reddit (because of the shitty downvote/upvote system) and the less said about Twitter and Facebook the better. Dont waste a great spot to have footy discussion as a spot just to vent. Even old mate silent alarm at least makes his insane ramblings an interesting read.

 

[Spirit Level]

I've probably got more accounts and Emails blocked here then you have years supporting this club.

Don't let the "debutant" tag fool you.

SA?

 

[Mags98]

I suppose I get it that people like to use it to vent but there is a vent thread (that the positivity people should stay out of and dont to be fair) and there are social media platforms to do that on.

BF has the best structure for footy discussion, far better than reddit (because of the shitty downvote/upvote system) and the less said about Twitter and Facebook the better. Dont waste a great spot to have footy discussion as a spot just to vent. Even old mate silent alarm at least makes his insane ramblings an interesting read.

laughable how shit the afl subreddit has become - post game match threads just being a bunch of images or gifs that arent even funny in the slightest to get upvotes, the freo sub has a few good posters that put in a bunch of effort though!

this board becomes nauseating when we lose, having the same posters blowing up the same tired old posting weve heard a million times.

Would be good to have the autopsy thread purely about the game and any rehashing of the coaching discussion kicked to another thread

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

laughable how shit the afl subreddit has become - post game match threads just being a bunch of images or gifs that arent even funny in the slightest to get upvotes, the freo sub has a few good posters that put in a bunch of effort though!

this board becomes nauseating when we lose, having the same posters blowing up the same tired old posting weve heard a million times.

Would be good to have the autopsy thread purely about the game and any rehashing of the coaching discussion kicked to another thread

That's something I hadnt thought about. Reddit is better for showing good content than BF, agreed some of the people creating Freo content on there are awesome

 

[PrancingPony]

I will say in regards to Justin, big ups on having the balls to call out the AFL for Opening Round, the timing of it obviously has the media pundits relegate it to just being "excuses" but the more coaches that call it out the better.

 

[The Lobbster]

That's something I hadnt thought about. Reddit is better for showing good content than BF, agreed some of the people creating Freo content on there are awesome

Reddit is also good at punishing super shit low effort tantrums that pop up whenever we lose.

In fact I’ve never really understood the idea that the Freo reddit as having “toxic positivity”. If you present criticism without substance, you’ll be downvoted sure. But I would argue BF would be a far better discussion board if overly emotional positive/negative post were contained within their own thread.

The Freo reddit has plenty of criticism. At least half of the top rated comment threads on the last game are criticisms of player performance, selection etc.

 

[Purpletown]

McRae won a flag in his second season, I have no issue turning to an untried senior coach if they present well, go through the process properly and pick the best candidate. I reckon Melbourne have got a very good one in Steven King too, and am a bit nervous about this week.

We all know this didn't happen when JLo was selected - it was a process run by Peter Bell, and JLo always had the inside running - with Sumich and Solomon (both who also had WA & Freo connections) the only real alternatives considered.

The Collingwood team McRae took over had played in a GF in 2018 and were still a talent side who were not performing as well as they could have under Buckley. Given the advantages of being Collingwood and playing the majority of their games at the MCG, McRae had a far easier introduction coaching in the AFL than JLo.

JLo took over a struggling Freo side and had a rough introduction to coaching during the covid era. JLo has done a very good job of moulding the talent that is now at the club into a competitive team. Good but not quite good enough so far.

The question is can he take the next step and cross that threshold that makes Freo good enough to genuinely compete at the pointy end of the season?

We will find out by September this year. If we don't get better results than 2025 then his position needs to be under pressure.

 

[ignoramus]

Reddit is also good at punishing super shit low effort tantrums that pop up whenever we lose.

In fact I’ve never really understood the idea that the Freo reddit as having “toxic positivity”. If you present criticism without substance, you’ll be downvoted sure. But I would argue BF would be a far better discussion board if overly emotional positive/negative post were contained within their own thread.

The Freo reddit has plenty of criticism. At least half of the top rated comment threads on the last game are criticisms of player performance, selection etc.

Yeah, I don’t get all the Freo reddit bashing. In fact, I’ve taken to checking it almost daily. It feels like there’s a higher ratio of quality comments to banal posts / emotional rants than there is here at times, albeit that’s largely because of the sterling work of Smurf_x and also probably an effect of the fact that I don’t live there, like I do here.

Agree with Mags98 that it gets pretty nauseating around here after a loss, or even a win that isn’t as compelling as some people feel it should've been. Makes it hard to see the more considered posts when there’s 10 pages of "sack JL” to wade through within 30 minutes of the final siren.

 

[PrancingPony]

Yeah, I don’t get all the Freo reddit bashing. In fact, I’ve taken to checking it almost daily. It feels like there’s a higher ratio of quality comments to banal posts / emotional rants than there is here at times, albeit that’s largely because of the sterling work of Smurf_x and also probably an effect of the fact that I don’t live there, like I do here.

Agree with Mags98 that it gets pretty nauseating around here after a loss, or even a win that isn’t as compelling as some people feel it should've been. Makes it hard to see the more considered posts when there’s 10 pages of "sack JL” to wade through within 30 minutes of the final siren.

If we could take the best of both worlds from this forum and the Freo subreddit then we'd have the ultimate Fremantle discussion space.

 

[ignoramus]

I think what I’m angling for is for some noble soul with the same interest in considered and informed analysis as I do to go review every post and mark the good ones as “worth reading” so I can save myself some time and agony when I hit the board.

 

[PrancingPony]

I think what I’m angling for is for some noble soul with the same interest in considered and informed analysis as I do to go review every post and mark the good ones as “worth reading” so I can save myself some time and agony when I hit the board.

Pretty much any highlights and analysis posted by Smurf is a must-view/read. They do a fantastic job.