FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir says it would be difficult to coach players not to run with the flight of the ball and he has “great gratitude” for the vulnerable positions that the League’s combatants put themselves in every week.
Dockers captain Alex Pearce will face the Tribunal at 4.30pm AWST on Tuesday after colliding with Port Adelaide’s Darcy Byrne-Jones on Saturday night when the Power forward ran with the flight of the ball in a marking attempt.
Longmuir, who said post-match that he loved the courage Byrne-Jones displayed, said players put themselves in “borderline reckless” positions during matches and the competition asked a lot of its stars.
He said trying to coach them not to put themselves in those positions would be unlikely to work given the nature of players and their willingness to put themselves in vulnerable positions for the betterment of their team.
“We can coach them, but players are competitive beasts who want to impact the game, and I think it’s really admirable what our players put themselves through across the comp,” Longmuir said on Tuesday.
“They cop so much criticism from everyone, but here you see them putting themselves in vulnerable positions like that, contest after contest, time after time, I’ve got great gratitude for them.
“Byrne-Jones is thinking I need to go back and mark this ball so I can kick a goal for my team. Or sometimes he might be thinking I need to go back and make this a groundball in my forward 50 so Fremantle don’t take another intercept.
“I think some of them are borderline reckless (and) we ask a lot of our players. That (going back with the flight) is one of probably many vulnerable situations that our players put themselves in each week.”
Longmuir said teams trained different ways of going back with the flight, but it came with risk and didn’t always translate to unpredictable in-game situations.
After Pearce’s collision was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, the coach would not be drawn on whether the Match Review system had become too outcomes based.
“But I do feel that there’s football collisions that happen with two players going at the footy and understand that there’s going to be injuries from that.”
Longmuir said it was not clear cut who would replace Pearce if the Dockers’ Tribunal challenge failed, with Josh Draper and Oscar McDonald both options. Brennan Cox would be the likely opponent for Gold Coast star Ben King regardless.
Fremantle will also need to replace injured half-back Cooper Simpson, who will miss 10 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a high-grade AC joint injury, with substitute Bailey Banfield and versatile defender James Aish in the mix.
Longmuir said Corey Wagner could also be considered to move back after some strong midfield roles, including run-with jobs.
Corey Wagner is tackled by Cooper Sharman during the match between St Kilda and Fremantle at Marvel Stadium in round eight, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
Ruckman Sean Darcy needed to complete training on Tuesday and pull up well to be considered for Saturday’s clash against Gold Coast, with opposition ruckman Jarrod Witts the type of opponent that would suit playing two rucks.
“That definitely comes into consideration, and it’s been a bit of a plan all along,” the coach said, with Luke Jackson coming off an outstanding performance as the Dockers’ sole ruck.
“When I say horses for courses, it’s for these type of situations where Witts is probably 125kg and 211cm.
“He’s got that size on ‘Jacko’ and whether we need two rucks, this is why I say that. So we’ll see how Sean goes and we’ll go to selection and see what team pushes out.
