And maybe not putting him in the ruck and switching positions every 5 seconds will help as well. Early days but having watched him at training I think we got a bargain. One coach's trash is another coach's treasure.
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Review Marsh Series: Fremantle v Carlton
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- Oct 12, 2019
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Defiant Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has refused to concede that his team faces a bleak opening to the season despite the absence of at least four senior players from what is already the league’s second-youngest list.
And the coach has not discounted a return to the finals for the first time since 2015.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW
Fremantle fans will get their first look at Longmuir’s new Dockers against Carlton at Mandurah today, where Richmond midfielder Reece Conca will act as captain and will be the only member of Fremantle’s six-man leadership group available to play.
Nathan Fyfe and Michael Walters played in the AFL’s bushfire relief match in Melbourne last night and all other leaders are injured.
Tell us about your first summer as a senior coach.
It has been enjoyable. I enjoyed meeting the players, building relationships.
Dockers coach Justin Longmuir says he has enjoyed his first pre-season at Fremantle. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West Australian
I have enjoyed working with our coaching group to set up a training program that allows our players to improve. There are a lot of familiar faces from when I was last here and that has made coming back a little bit easier.
How will your style of play differ from what Dockers fans saw under Ross Lyon?
I can’t talk about the past a lot but my philosophy is that your offence and defence needs to find a balance. It starts at the contest. I want us to be a team that attacks the ball, attacks the opposition with the ball. I want us to be able to make the most of our contest wins, negate the opposition’s contest wins and we need to find the balance between offence and defence. It can’t be swayed too far one way. We will continue to work on that balance. We won’t get it right all of the time but we will be searching for it.
How much of a change do you reckon fans will notice when they see you against Carlton at Mandurah (today)?
They will see some change in game plan. They will see some change in the way we defend and attack. Hopefully they will see some change in the way our forward line structures up. I feel like we will have more structure ahead of the play and hopefully that will give us some more options on offence. Hopefully they will see some new personnel.
Can you tell us about the players we will see who we haven’t seen before?
Sam Sturt will play. He has had a really strong summer.
Justin Longmuir has confirmed Sam Sturt will start in Mandurah. Credit: Simon Santi/The West Australian
Michael Frederick was our fourth pick in last year’s draft. He has done some exciting things on a wing. He has still got a lot to learn but he brings some raw talent and speed and he is good with his skills. Our second pick from last year Caleb Serong will get an opportunity in the midfield. He is a well-developed kid. He is a brute inside contest and he is elite with his hands. I see him developing into a quality midfielder in time. Probably a kid that people wouldn’t have heard a lot of is Tobe Watson.
Would Watson play as a replacement for Joel Hamling or Alex Pearce or do you see a different role for him?
I see a different role. I see him playing more on the smalls and the third tall. He reads the play really well and backs himself in the air. I see him supporting (Brennan) Cox and (Griffin) Logue in those key posts but he will play a bit smaller.
Who in the AFL would you liken Sturt to?
I don’t like comparing but I have been at Collingwood in the last couple of years and I see some Jaidyn Stephenson and Will Hoskin-Elliott traits in him. He is good overhead. He has got electric speed like Stephenson and he likes to use it. They are probably the two guys that I would liken him to.
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You lost both your wingmen from last year, Brad Hill and Ed Langdon. Who plays in those positions against Carlton?
We will start with Brett Bewley who has had a fantastic pre-season. He is as fit as a fiddle.
Brett Bewley will get a start for the Dockers. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian
He has worked on all aspects of his game over the pre-season. Blake Acres will start on the other wing. We are looking forward to settling Blake down in a role he has executed really well at AFL level. He has probably been a stand-out performer in our intra-clubs and hasn’t missed a beat since he got here. I am really excited to see what both of those guys can do on a wing.
Where is Hayden Young at and when might we see him?
We will probably have to wait a couple of weeks to see Youngy. He has had a really good pre-season but there are some precautionary steps we are taking with him at the moment to strengthen his lower body. It is more a long-term approach so that once he starts playing footy we will see him play a lot of footy. It is nothing to worry about, it is just trying to build his body to be resilient to AFL standards. When he starts playing we want him to have a full season.
We have heard that Cam McCarthy is going to be tried in a midfield role. Have you played around with that over the pre-season?
He will definitely play this weekend.
He is probably a little bit behind in terms of the quality of pre-season that he has done. He has had a few little hiccups with quad injuries. He is going to have to be one of those players that plays a few roles for us and we have explained that to him. They are roles that he has played at AFL level before, especially in the forward half. He will get an opportunity on a wing. We have trained him on a wing all pre-season. He has executed that role well. He is probably just down the pecking order.
What about James Aish’s pre-season?
He has had an outstanding pre-season and we are just trying to find the right role for him at the moment because every role we have put him in he has played really well. He has played minutes on the wing. He has evolved his game to play in the midfield. There may be a need early in the season to play him at half-back with a few injuries at half-back. We would really like to settle him down but we are going to give him opportunities in a number of roles over the pre-season and we will make it up as we go a bit because he has proved to be flexible in the past with the roles he can play.
We haven’t see much of Nathan Wilson in the pre-season. How is he going and is he a chance to play in round one?
No, he looks like he might miss the first month of the season.
Nathan Wilson has been ruled out of round one with a toe injury. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West Australian
He is recovering well from turf toe and if you had to align him with someone he is probably on the same upswing as Alex Pearce. They are doing very similar programs and improving at the same speed. We would look to have those two back in the first month of the season.
What about David Mundy with his fractured fibula?
He is tracking really well. It was an unfortunate injury but he has ticked every box so far and is ahead of schedule. He is probably in the same range as Pearce and Wilson. Hopefully between rounds two to five.
Stephen Hill looks to have had a great summer. How excited are you about him playing and where will he play?
I am really excited about what Hilly has produced this pre-season. We have managed his training loads. He is training the house down. Fingers crossed we get him through to round one because he has put in so much work. At this stage he will play at half-back. That is where he has trained over the pre-season and I feel like that is a great position for him, with his ability to read the play. We really need his ball use coming out of the back half.
There has been a lot of talk about the three top-10 draft picks from the 2019 draft but the club’s three top-10 picks previous to that were Griffin Logue, Adam Cerra and Andrew Brayshaw. Tells us about them, how you will use them and can fans expect them to be better?
They are three guys in particular that I want to settle down and to give opportunity in the one position. Cerra and Brayshaw will play midfield, they have trained there all pre-season.
Griffin Logue will have to step up in defence after injuries to Alex Pearce and Joel Hamling. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West Australian
I feel like they are at a point now in their career where they have played 30 or 40 games, they have been around for two years and they are ready to take the next step and we will give them every opportunity in the midfield. We have seen some really good signs with their ability to play to their strengths in that position. And Griff is just starting to get the game. He has always been around the mark athletically. Now he is reading the play really well. He is learning when to use those physical attributes against the opponent, and he is backing himself more often, especially in the air which I love seeing.
Without Jesse Hogan, the availability of your other tall forwards becomes even more important. Are Matt Taberner and Rory Lobb fit and available?
They are both going really well. Lobby came to training on my first day with the first to fourth-year players. I don’t think he has missed a session all pre-season. I am really happy with the way he is going on the field but I am even more pleased with the way he is going off the field. He has really grown as a person. He leads by example and because of that players respect what he has to say. Tabs is first class with the way he goes about his preparation. I don’t think we have anyone at the club who works on his game and works in the gym as hard as Tabs does. He is leading by example. Both are fit. Both have adjusted well to the roles we want them to play and we just need to keep them out on the park for long periods of the season.
Sean Darcy got a little bit of a shoulder knock in one of your match simulations. How is he?
He will play (against Carlton today). It was a minor knock and it was a muscle issue. Nothing structural which caused a pretty heavy sigh of relief when I heard that news. He has worked closely with Aaron Sandilands, and he will continue to improve year on year.
Who will be your small forwards on Saturday?
All of our small forwards have had really good pre-seasons.
Lachie Schultz will line up in Fremantle’s new-look forward line.Credit: Will Russell/Getty Images
I have been really impressed with their diligence to their role, their application to both offence and defence. Trav Colyer has had an outstanding pre-season and brings great speed to our forward line. Lachie Schultz is one that I didn’t really know about before I got here and he has worked on every aspect of his game. He will get good minutes over the pre-season. Bailey Banfield has played as a half-forward and is continually getting shots on goal but is defending and tackling like a madman. Sam Sturt is more of a leading type player but brings great speed and defensive intent. We have got good competition for forward-line spots when you throw in Sonny (Michael Walters) next week. I am excited about our forward-line group.
Hugh Dixon got an opportunity right at the end of last season. How has his summer been?
Hugh has been solid. He has probably had a few hiccups post Christmas. He has got an uncanny knack of taking a contested mark. He is a beautiful left-foot kick. He just needs to make sure he builds his fitness level so he can mix it with the best key backs in the comp. That is something that will take a while.
Can you play finals in 2020?
I am not going to say we can’t. But it is a long way from my focus at the moment. I am focused on getting the processes right and on building a team that is going to be around for a long period of time. It is probably not the answer you want but the answer I have got for you.
Do you have the basis of a list that can give you that?
I think we do. I think we have got a good mix of mature talls and I think we have drafted well in the last few years. We have just got to set up an environment that ensures that these draftees can be the best they can possibly be.
There's some other stuff in here on the game, but J-Lo is flagging Bewley and Acres to be our starting wingers.
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I’m hoping the way Saints let him go so easily really fuels him to go to the next level.
Steak knives in a swap for someone to take the role you wanted would be galling to many.
He will never be a superstar, but if he gets to the level of say Shane Edwards, we will have done well.
Mitch Robinson last year showed how it could be done in the same role with a steady position and a supportive environment.
The Blues are a good test.
Starting to think Matera is on the outer...
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showemhowtorock
Cancelled
- Jun 18, 2019
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wasn't it rumoured he was going to request a trade last year?
Piggy Smalls
Is it Friday yet?
- Nov 30, 2018
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I want to see at least one Centre bounce featuring Darcy, Brayshaw, Cerra and Serong
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Wait, what are you watching? Is there a game on now?
- May 27, 2013
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there's a peel v claremont scratchie before the marsh game, it's not televised
Not bad, not quick. Probably still not 100%.
Valente has turned himself into a man child quite quickly. He was never quick. Still need inside midfielders to get in, get the ball, block and distribute. He needs a good solid season at Peel with hopefully a few AFL games to really drive his development. His 2019 was very stop start and more stop than start impacted significantly by a dodgy groin.
Michael Randall?
Michael Randall
Yeah, not sure. Has he been training with the Dockers? This kid has and he is good.
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Michael Randall has been training with Freo - he doesn't look like his pic on Peel's website anymore from memory though. Likely it is him.
edit - yeah it is him. He's congratulating Ben Middleton in the second pic below.
Yeah, thanks for that - certainly changed! Solid game, he is fast and pretty hard at it.
love the bit where “Richmond midfielder Reece Conca will captain the side”, nice of them to lend us Reece!
Yeah I rate him. He only came into the League side mid last year. He's only 20 and could see him impacting a fair bit more than he did last season. Expecting Peel to have a good year. A little bit light on for KPDs and rucks but apart from that look pretty good imo.
Only got here at half time, and it was pretty casual match. Valente did some goog things, North was the best I have seen him. Michael Randsll really impressed me in several passages. Didn't notice much else, but Peel were far better than they looked last year.
Sorry I can't be more help.
Sorry I can't be more help.
- Aug 20, 2014
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Probably been said already but Freo member card = free entry.
