FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir will encourage his stars to be involved in AAMI AFL Origin next year after being confirmed as Dean Cox's assistant for Western Australia. 

The Dockers already have star forward Shai Bolton locked in for WA, while gun players including Luke Jackson, Jordan Clark, Caleb Serong, Hayden Young and Andrew Brayshaw will be among those targeted by WA and Victoria selectors. 

Longmuir said it would be special for players to represent their state in AFL Origin as well as a chance to learn from their contemporaries when the two camps come together ahead of the February 14 showpiece game at Optus Stadium. 

"I think it's a great opportunity for them to experience something different to playing for their club, and a great opportunity for both states to showcase the talent that's going to be out there," Longmuir told AFL.com.au after he was announced as Cox's assistant, while Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell will be an assistant for Victoria under Chris Scott.

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"It's the responsibility of both the coaches from Victoria and WA to make sure we represent the needs of each player in terms of where they are in their pre-season, but I think we can do that while allowing the players to play a really competitive brand of footy where they embrace the concept.

"I'm really supportive of it."

Longmuir said he was excited to be involved in the WA camp and working alongside Cox again after the pair crossed over at West Coast between 2011 and 2017, staying in regular contact since. 

He was also looking forward to working with opposition stars and learning more about how they approach the game, with Carlton captain Patrick Cripps, Western Bulldogs spearhead Aaron Naughton and Hawthorn defender Tom Barrass confirmed starters for WA. 

"That's probably what I'm most excited about … it's an opportunity to see other players that you haven't worked with before prepare for a game, consume information and get a good insight into their individual personalities away from footy as well," he said. 

"I think we'll all have a connection because we'll all be from WA and represent different parts of WA. So that's a little thing that we'll pick out."

Longmuir hails from Koorda, 236km east of Perth in the north-eastern Wheatbelt, and has fond memories of watching WAFL football growing up and seeing the best players from the state competition come together to represent WA. 

He also represented WA as an under-18s player, earning selection in the All-Australian team after a late and rapid rise with West Perth's colts team. 

Longmuir said he wanted to use his role to tap into the history of WA football as part of next year's Origin build-up and utilise past players who have represented WA. 

"I think back in the day what made state footy great, apart from the talent, was probably the different styles, and that was born out of the different oval sizes," he said. 

"WA has got big ovals and probably made for more of an open brand of footy, whereas Melbourne ovals were a lot smaller and the weather conditions made it a bit more of a contested, in-tight game.

"So, I'd like to tap into some of that and hear from some of the older players that were right in the middle of it and connect to a bit of our history as well."

Longmuir recently returned from an off-season trip to the United States where he and development coach Tendai Mzungu spent time with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, NFL's New Orleans Saints, and Louisiana State University.  

After leading the Dockers back into finals last year with a 16-win season, Longmuir said the trip was a chance to reflect on his own coaching while picking up some new ideas along the way. 

The sixth-year coach has a connection to the Spurs through former Australia basketballer Matthew Nielson, who is part of the NBA club's coaching team, opening doors to watch the Spurs and their superstar Victor Wembanyama up close, while also spending time inside the program.  

"We were sitting courtside when he (Wembanyama) was doing his warm-up and you get a good insight into the size of the man and how serious he takes his career in terms of how he prepares for games," Longmuir said of the French basketball sensation. 

"The way he builds his warm-up into a game … he's clearly someone who wants to get the most out of his enormous ability." 

Western Australian squad*

Tom Barrass
Shai Bolton
Patrick Cripps
Aaron Naughton
Chad Warner 

Victorian squad*

Marcus Bontempelli
Zak Butters
Jeremy Cameron
Nick Daicos
Matt Rowell 

* more to be announced