FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir says the Dockers will give star midfielder Caleb Serong more support in his battle against taggers and more positional levers to pull as the team prepares for a crunch game against Hawthorn on Saturday night.
The finals-shaping clash comes as Longmuir defended his record after ongoing criticism from media analyst David King, declaring some of his comments had been over the top but were “just an opinion”.
Serong shapes as a pivotal player in Saturday night’s clash at Optus Stadium after opposition attention had restricted him to 18 disposals against St Kilda and just 11 against Sydney in back-to-back weeks.
The stoppage specialist remains the leading clearance player in the game, with an average of 8.0 a match, but Longmuir said the Dockers needed to do more to help him.
“Clearly we need to be better at that. We need to support Caleb more, or Andy (Brayshaw) or Jordan Clark for that matter, who got some attention on the weekend. We need to be able to support those guys,” Longmuir said on Thursday.
“And we need to keep providing Caleb with options to be able to move to different areas of the ground.
“We’ll keep trying to evolve those things as we get some depth through the middle of the ground back. We can use Caleb in other areas and not be so reliant on him.”
Fremantle sits ninth on the ladder but can draw level with the Hawks on 11 wins if it prevails on Saturday night, with last week’s 11-point loss to Sydney the team’s first slip up since round nine.
The heat was placed on Longmuir this week, however, with King labelling him the “most under pressure” coach in the AFL, expressing doubts that the Fremantle coach would lead the club to a premiership.
Longmuir is in his sixth season with a win-loss record of 52 per cent, leading the club to a finals win in 2022. The club’s 10 wins so far has them just one short of third-placed Adelaide.
“To be honest, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what I’ve done to David King, I’d be a rich man and I’d probably be in the Bahamas, guts up, rather than doing this job,” Longmuir said.
“In the end, everyone needs to understand that it’s just David’s opinion. We’re a game based on opinion and that’s his. That’s enough said about it really.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful towards anyone, but I don’t think David’s put together a game plan, put together a list, put together a culture. It’s just an opinion and that’s what I take it as.
“Some people around me get caught up in that stuff, but really I’m just focused on the opinions of the people that I trust around this club and doing the best I can.
“It seems a little bit over the top, but that seems to be his way with me.”
Justin Longmuir and Alex Pearce with Dockers players during the Welcome to Country ahead of the match between Walyalup and Yartapuulti at Optus Stadium in round 11, 2025. Picture: Getty Images
Longmuir said star midfielder Hayden Young would not return this week after recovering from hamstring surgery, despite training strongly with the main group on Thursday.
The 24-year-old is on track to play at some level next week, however, with all options on the table after spending the past two months contributing on game day from the Fremantle coach’s box.
“It’s about making sure he’s right to finish off the year really well. And once he gets back, we keep him back, so there’s still a bit of conditioning work to do there.
“We’ll see if we can squeeze him in the 22 or sub [next week], or if he has to go through Peel, and we’ll be a little bit guided by the fitness staff and what they think is best for his build.”
