FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir has lauded the persistence and positivity shown by Jye Amiss through the early years of his career after he continued his emergence as a powerful attacking threat with a career-best performance in Sunday's Western Derby win. 

Amiss booted five goals against West Coast and took a club record nine marks inside 50, overtaking club great Matthew Pavlich, who set the benchmark in 2007 and took eight marks in attack on four occasions. 

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The 22-year-old faced scrutiny early this season after kicking 1.1 across his first two games, but he has been a vital contributor with 13 goals across his past four matches, kicking a clutch match-winner against Collingwood last week. 

Longmuir said the progress of young key forwards always included ups and downs, and Amiss had worked hard to build his game since bursting onto the scene with 41 goals in his second season in 2023. 

"Throughout all the challenges he's had, he's always been positive, he's always kept working on his game, he's got his feedback internally, and it's good to see him getting some of the rewards," Longmuir said after Fremantle's 56-point win on Sunday.

"The challenge of being a young key forward is that progress is not always linear. That's the same for all players, but even more so for young key forwards, who are sometimes undersized against their opponents. 

"It was Jye's turn today, but it's not going to be all the time. And just on the clutch bit, Jye's actually stood up for us a lot under pressure.

"Throughout last year, there were a lot of times when we just needed a contest from him on the wing when the opposition were coming at us, or he was two-v-one against, and he was just able to get it done. 

"He's done that a lot. It's probably just a bit of recency bias that we recognise last week, but he's been good in those situations."

Longmuir said there were still areas for improvement in the Dockers' game, but they did what they needed on Sunday and "won the game comprehensively" after a brief challenge from West Coast early in the second quarter. 

They took 18 marks inside 50 and were able to punish turnovers through Glendinning-Allan medallist Jordan Clark, who racked up 27 disposals, 11 marks and 629m gained in a standout performance. 

"I thought he was super. I think he was disappointed in his game last week and he's a very proud player," Longmuir said of Clark.

"I thought he got himself into great positions to defend, which allows him to be used offensively a lot. The majority of the time he used the ball well … he was a well-deserved winner."

Longmuir was the subject of a cheeky banner dig from West Coast on Sunday, which referenced comments the coach made at the Dockers' season launch. 

Asked then what a senior coach does for fun, Longmuir joked "there's no fun in my life", with the Eagles banner on Sunday reading: "Dockers are purple, Eagles are gold and blue, we have fun in our lives, how about you?"

After winning his ninth Derby out of 12 as coach, Longmuir returned serve, saying: "I'm having fun now because we won. I hope they're having fun."

Longmuir said ruck recruit Mason Cox competed well in his club debut, finishing with 13 hitouts and three clearances but dropping several marks and finishing with four disposals. 

The coach said Andrew Brayshaw had worked through a corked leg to have an impact, while forward Sam Switkowski was fine post-match after a knock to the ribs. 

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter was pleased with his team's performance, particularly after edging the Dockers in focus areas of contested possession (124-120) and inside 50s (51-50). 

He paid tribute to defender Reuben Ginbey, who battled in-form forward Josh Treacy and held him to one goal, limiting his impact in the air.  

"I thought Reuben was extraordinary today. Josh Treacy is one of the best key forwards in the game, and I think 'Reubs' kept him to three marks," McQualter said. 

"We're just so lucky to have Reuben in our team the way he competes, but there's some challenges, and they got some pretty good looks at times as well. 

"With some of our turnovers in dangerous positions, it would have been tough at times to be back today, but we've got to keep finding ways to compete and making sure that teams don't score efficiently when they go inside their forward 50." 

McQualter said key defender Harry Edwards was showing positive signs as he recovers from a concussion in round two and the club hoped to have him available soon, without setting a timeline.