Lack of finals success, bold declarations continue to mount pressure on Justin Longmuir
Despite steering Freo to their equal second-best season record, Justin Longmuir faces mounting pressure due to the club's self-imposed expectations. Eliza Reilly unpacks his job security here.
If the Fremantle powerbrokers are sitting there wondering why coach Justin Longmuir is still under pressure despite steering the club back to finals for the first time in three years, they only have themselves to blame.
A one-point loss to Gold Coast in the first week of finals brought a premature end to a rollercoaster campaign.
But for the 2025 season to be considered a success, Fremantle simply had to win at home against the Suns, a side that had a total of just three players with finals experience.
A devastated Longmuir said post-match that he felt like the Dockers had more to give this year.
Instead, Longmuir’s perennial critics like David King and Brad Hardie are again questioning if the coach should’ve or could’ve done more.
And that’s ultimately Fremantle’s fault.
The pressure valve started creeping upwards four years ago when chief executive Simon Garlick unveiled the Dockers’ five-year strategic plan.
By 2025, Fremantle intended to deliver a maiden AFL and AFLW premiership and at least three top four finishes among other ambitious targets. That pledge was made just two years into Longmuir’s tenure and he’s coached with the weight of it ever since.
We know now that Fremantle will fall humorously short of those key benchmarks, but it was the board that made big promises, not Longmuir.
On the eve of the 2024 season, the Dockers extended Longmuir’s contract for one year, a vote of some confidence but far from an assurance of his long-term future.
A year later, both parties agreed to move from a fixed-term contract to an ongoing employee agreement.
Garlick stopped short of guaranteeing Longmuir’s future when the new agreement begins on November 1, declaring that the ‘performance-based’ nature of the industry would dictate whether he coached in 2026.
Then at the club’s season launch in February, president Chris Sutherland said he was “done with talking, it’s time for action.”
For the last four years, Fremantle has flippantly put too much expectation on itself.
And for the last four years, the same club has bristled at suggestions that Longmuir’s future is at risk.
The board endorsed the strategic plan. The board tentatively extended and then altered Longmuir’s contract. The board said the time is now.
The Dockers have set themselves up for failure and Longmuir has worn the brunt of it. And the only thing that could cast serious doubt over his tenure is if an experienced premiership coach, think John Longmire, expressed interest in the potential of Fremantle’s list.
To borrow a line from esteemed journalist Mark Duffield, no coach seems to get more blame for losses and less credit for wins.
“I say the criticism is bullsh*t,” Luke Ryan told AAP last week. “Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach cop so much more sh*t than JL.”
Two weeks ago, Fremantle won a virtual elimination final against the Western Bulldogs to lock in a top eight spot.
Good teams should win home finals. But losing to the Suns by the barest of margins is far from catastrophic.
Gold Coast was playing with house money after qualifying for finals for the first time in its 15-year history. And three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick has got the Suns playing a finals brand of footy.
Longmuir said pre-game Fremantle’s style is also made for finals. But the players failed to execute it for long enough.
Simply, the Dockers’ inability to deliver in the big moments is a massive reason why the coach is under pressure.
There’s a direct correlation to Fremantle’s list profile and the fact that the Dockers are ranked in the bottom four for both age and experience.
But equally, some players went backwards this year and some gaps were exposed in the Dockers’ list. They desperately need another good user behind the ball as well as a pressure forward.
Fremantle’s list is good. But it’s not the best in the competition as some have claimed.
When we reflect on this season, Fremantle managed to dispel a number of long-standing myths.
Pundits said that the Dockers couldn’t play in the wet. This year, they went 5-0 in wet-weather games.
Pundits said that the Dockers couldn’t win on the road. Some of Fremantle’s most memorable victories this season were away from home, including wins against the Suns, Giants, Magpies and Power.
Pundits said that the Dockers couldn’t win the close ones. After losing two thrillers earlier in the season, Fremantle went 5-2 in games decided by less than 12 points after round six.
Pundits said that the Dockers were guilty of fourth-quarter fadeouts. Fremantle won six games this season after trailing at three-quarter time.
Just because it wasn’t a successful season doesn’t mean that the Dockers didn’t take valuable lessons from 2025.
A 16-7 record is the equal second-best in club history. But the disparity between the top and bottom nine means that Fremantle was still only the 6th best side in it.
There is a caveat.
This year, the Dockers were a top eight side.
Next year, they have to finish top four.
With another season and another finals campaign under their belt, everything changes.
The finals defeat will plague them all summer.
But this heartbreak must be a launching pad for a genuine premiership assault, given they were highly unlikely to get there this season.
With the amount of travel required, Perth teams can’t win a flag from outside the top four.
Fremantle’s draw will be harder next year, but with a few small tweaks and an extra home game against North Melbourne, the top four is the pass mark.
Most importantly, it’s time for Fremantle as a club to undersell and over-deliver.
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Until they’ve proven they’re capable of climbing the mountain, it’s time to do away with the bold declarations.
Hardwick won his first flag in his eighth season at the helm.
Longmuir has proven he can coach. So give him a chance to do so without the unnecessary pressure.
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