‘We’re not dead’: Coach bristles at key question after horror final
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has bristled at suggestions his club peaked earlier in the season, following the Dockers’ stunning qualifying final loss to Hawthorn on Thursday night.
The Hawks trounced the Dockers across all four quarters, holding them to just five goals in a 32-point victory.
Justin Longmuir wasn’t having the suggestion. Fox Footy
Freo won this year's minor premiership, winning 19 games, but lost two of their last three heading into finals.
They spent effectively the entire season on top of the ladder, but when asked by a journalist whether their form tapered off in the back half of the season, the Fremantle coach wasn't copping it.
"I'd disagree," Longmuir said, cutting off the question.
"Go back and have a look at the Adelaide game. I thought we played a great brand of footy against a really desperate team who had it all to play for.
“It was a finals-like game, and we stood up in critical moments. We had a couple of away games where we didn’t play our best footy, but I back our group to bounce back from that.
“The facts are we need to win two games in a row to make a grand final. We won 14 games in a row earlier this year. We’ve won on the road, we’ve won back to back road travels. It’s not the way we wanted it to go, but we’re not dead and buried. We’ve earned the right for a double chance.
“I’ve got full faith we can get back to our best footy.”
Fremantle beat Adelaide in a high-scoring battle in round 23, between losses to Melbourne and Carlton.
Longmuir and the Dockers made a controversial selection call, picking defender Brandon Walker to play in this final despite the fact he had not played since round one because of concussions and other injuries.
Walker was given the incredibly difficult task of guarding Hawthorn star Nick Watson, who kicked two goals and was among the most influential players on the ground.
The defender injured his ankle in the third quarter and took no further part in the contest. He was seen in tears on the bench as the fourth term began.
Longmuir, however, backed the call to select Walker for the final.
"I haven't really got an update, but he's rolled his ankle. Some ankles you can jab and get them back out there, and this wasn't one of them, so that tells me it's serious," Longmuir said.
“He had some really good moments. Had a really good tussle with Watson. It’s been the story of his last two years, right? Every time he gets back into the side he gets injured, and he hasn’t been able to string games together.
“We thought he was up to the challenge, and he showed he was up to the challenge. We thought his form was good enough, and we backed him in.
“There are some things he could have done better, but he had a lot of good moments and I feel really bad for him because he’s had a tough few years.”
Brandon Walker in tears on the bench. Fox Footy
Fremantle has now lost three finals in a row under Longmuir, including last year’s loss to Gold Coast, also at home in Perth.
Longmuir, however, has played down suggestions his team has struggled to perform under finals pressure.
“I understand the question and I understand people might say that, and that narrative is there, for sure,” he said.
"I just thought Hawthorn pressured us well early and had us under field position pressure. I thought they got in after us and made it hard for us to exit. That made us a little panicky, but I thought it was more the pressure than the situation.
“I wouldn’t say it was a new level of pressure. I feel like it’s a bit on us with the way we set the contest up and a little bit on the ball-carrier to go in the right direction.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise on our field position in the second half. We outscored them by a point in the second half despite having more inside 50s. We couldn’t manage two goals in a row. We couldn’t get any momentum.
“Credit to them – they played really well.”
Freo has now lost the right to host a preliminary final and will have to go the long way to make the grand final.
That starts next week when they host either Geelong or Carlton in a do-or-die semi-final.
