FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir has called for the AFL to remove what he calls the “competitive advantage” provided by Opening Round after his Dockers were overrun by Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats lost to Gold Coast by 56 points last weekend before facing a 33-point deficit at quarter-time against the red-hot Dockers.
But Geelong ground away at the lead and hit the front in the final term, before holding on for a thrilling 10-point win.
Longmuir was critical his side’s drop-off after half-time, but said the League had created an uneven playing field by fixturing teams that had already played a game against other teams that were yet to open their season.
“Anyone who’s been around football would realise it’s an advantage,” he said.
“We should all start the season the same way, there should be no competitive advantage for any team playing a game before they play another team.
“It just makes so much sense to people in the industry, and we’ve just got it wrong.”
Asked if he or other Dockers officials had made their views known to the AFL, Longmuir said: “Well, we’ve said it enough.”
Longmuir lamented “sloppy” errors that squandered scoring chances and left his team vulnerable in defence.
They led at every change, but not when it mattered most.
“We were disappointed with the way we handled the second half and disappointed with how we handled the last quarter,” Longmuir said.
“We didn’t defend Geelong well enough and when we did create opportunities back the other way we just couldn’t tie our work off.
“We kicked 3.8 in the second half.”
Meanwhile, Cats coach Chris Scott lauded his side’s inner belief after conceding a significant lead in the opening term.
“The most important thing is the players had belief that if we did shift a few things that we could turn the momentum of the game,” Scott said.
“It’s a rare situation to have that belief when you’ve been so badly outplayed, you know, they were dominant.
“It’s not as if we predicted that start, but we were well aware of the threat.”
Fremantle posted their highest-ever first-quarter score outside WA, leading 8.4 to 3.1 at the first change after Luke Jackson, Hayden Young and Andrew Brayshaw got on top early.
“We thought we allowed them to do what they do best a bit too much, so when there was a bit more pressure around the ball, we thought like we gave ourselves a bit more of an even chance,” Scott said.
“It obviously wasn’t going to get fixed in the next quarter – it had to be a belief that over the course of the next three quarters we could work our way into the game.
“I’m proud of them for believing in the plan and getting it done.”
