'Not going to get a job with the CIA': Freo coach's hilarious response to 'spy gate' fiasco
Updated . First published
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has laughed off Friday's 'spying' fiasco, ahead of the club's biggest game in years on Sunday.
The Western Bulldogs booted two Fremantle staff members out of their open club training session on Friday morning, after they wandered in to have a look.
The game looms as the biggest of the home-and-away season, with the winner set to play finals and the loser to miss out, assuming Gold Coast beats Essendon.
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Valentine (green hat) and Naismith (black hat) in the stands. Twitter
Cheekily, Dockers development coaches Sam Naismith and Geoff Valentine took a trip to Whitten Oval for the open training session, with the pair sitting in the stands and observing.
Both were dressed inconspicuously in black jackets and donned caps. Naturally, a purple club polo would have stood out in the red, white and blue seating.
However, they were busted pretty quickly, with the Dogs sending assistant coach Daniel Pratt up into the stands to boot them out before training even began.
Coffee in hand, Naismith can be seen making his way out of the stands, with some parting words from Pratt as journos and fans looked on.
Speaking on Saturday, Longmuir said the incident was not part of some master plan, and they gained no information out of it.
"I heard about it when you heard about it," Longmuir laughed on ABC Sport.
"We had some coaches (in Melbourne) a little bit earlier to do a session with Luke Jackson who's been in Melbourne all week.
"I think they saw the Bulldogs were having an open training session, so they'd stop by and have a look.
"They're definitely not going to get a job with the CIA post-coaching, they've got to be a little bit (more discreet) and taking a 206cm ruckman is not a way to slide under the radar.
Daniel Pratt asks Geoff Valentine and Sam Naismith to leave Dogs training. Nine
"They left before training started I believe and we didn't get anything out of it in the end.
"They left and did a session with Jackson, so they were none-the-wiser to the scrutiny they were getting."
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge played a straight bat when asked about Freo's snooping, saying "I'm not that interested in the tit-for-tat on that".
Naismith played 33 career games across his career for both Sydney and Richmond, retiring at the end of the 2024 season and heading into coaching.
Unsurprisingly, the 206cm ruckman was unable to blend in amongst the onlookers at Whitten Oval.
While this incident is funny on the surface, the loser of Sunday afternoon's battle will not be laughing.
The loser will become the first team in AFL history to miss the eight with 15 wins.
