FREMANTLE might finally shake the 'dour Dockers' tag if new coach Justin Longmuir's plans come to fruition.
Longmuir replaced the sacked Ross Lyon, Freo's longest-serving coach with a tenure of eight years, and is keen to release the shackles at a club that has missed the finals for the past four seasons.
I don't want to be telling our players to, 'Do this, do that'. I want them to bring their god-given talents to their role and to our team - Justin Longmuir
Though he regards himself as a defence-first coach and expects his men to play team football, Longmuir is keen for them to express themselves and play on instinct where possible.
Former Dockers big man Longmuir, who was West Coast's forward coach for five years before a two-season stint at Collingwood where he was in charge of the backline and team defence for the first time, believes empowering players and coaches produces the best results.
"I'm a really defensive-minded coach but overall I want our players to play on instinct. I want them to read the cues and play the game in front of them," Longmuir told AFL.com.au’s Draft Night Countdown on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the NAB AFL Draft.
Michael Walters working the weights in the pre-season. Picture: fremantlefc.com.au
"I don't want to be too prescriptive as a coach. I don't want to be telling our players to, 'Do this, do that'. I want them to bring their god-given talents to their role and to our team.
"They need to play team footy but I want them to play on instinct."
Longmuir also wants his players to do what comes naturally off the field, citing the example of outgoing pair Brennan Cox and Luke Ryan to make his point.
"I'm about players really being themselves. I want them to express themselves and bring all of themselves all the time," he said.
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"To have characters like (Cox and Ryan) around the football club is a good thing. They got up in front of the group the other day and took the mickey out of a few coaches, which all the players had a good laugh at. They've been really good."
A criticism of the Dockers' play in recent times has been their general lack of skill, which has resulted in costly errors and turnovers. Longmuir is determined to reverse this trend, and believes the appointment of former West Coast star Mark LeCras as a part-time specialist forwards coach will help the cause.
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"It's something I'm really strong on is to develop our players holistically (and) a large part of that is improving their craft, and I've had our coaches put a lot of work into designing drills that best allow them to improve their skills so that we can execute on game day," he said.
"You can kick the ball as much as you want (at training) but we need those kicks to transfer to becoming a better game-day kick. I feel like we've done that. We've had a big emphasis on it. Mark LeCras has come on board – he'll have a big impact on that."
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>> Follow the 2019 NAB AFL Draft on Fox Footy from 6.30pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 27 and Thursday, November 28. Not a Foxtel or Kayo subscriber? Cal Twomey, Nat Edwards, Riley Beveridge and Mitch Cleary bring you Draft Night Live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App, from 6.30pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 27.
