WALYALUP coach Justin Longmuir says he should be coaching as well as he ever has in 2026 if he follows the mantra of constant improvement that he preaches to his players. 

Longmuir has steered the Dockers to their best start to a season since 2015 and the club will match its record of nine straight wins if it beats Essendon at the MCG on Sunday. 

Longmuir's own reputation has grown through a terrific start to the season, which has the Dockers sitting second with an 8-1 record, with the 45-year-old adamant that he should be at the top of his game this year. 

"I'd hope so. I'd hope I'm learning from all the experiences, just like I'm asking the players to get better all the time, so it's a pretty easy answer to say of course," Longmuir said on Thursday. 

"We all should be growing and getting better. Assistant coaches, fitness staff, we all should be better than what we were last year.

"I haven't felt like I've necessarily changed a lot, (but) I've been able to grow with this group and help this group learn from their experiences.

"I don't get too caught up in what the externals say, whether they're bagging me or patting me on the back. I get my feedback from my bosses and people around me." 

Longmuir said his team's maturity this season was playing a role in its winning run, with the Dockers no longer entering match-ups as the younger side like they frequently have in recent seasons. 

They have also learned to win in multiple ways after refining their ball movement and diversifying their scoring avenues in a crucial step that makes them a premiership threat. 

"I've always been of the belief that you don't want to be too one-dimensional as a club or as a team," Longmuir said.  

"We need to be able to move the ball in different ways, you need to be able to defend different modes of ball movement, and you need to be able to adjust at stoppage to what you're doing and what the opposition's doing.

"You need to be flexible as a team, and we don't want to be a team where if a team takes something off us we're no good or don't have other strings to our bow.

"I feel like we've been able to build that flexibility in roles and personnel, but also in the way we've played."

Longmuir said he hadn't put any thought into the prospect of an equal club record winning streak, with the coach focused on Essendon and finding a way to counter its tall forward line without captain Alex Pearce. 

Young 196cm defender Hugh Davies is among the options to come into the 23 for his third career game, with the 21-year-old ready to go if he gets the nod. 

"He's been elite in the contest, he's really hard to play against, and he's improved aspects of his game in terms of with the ball … and winning more contests rather than halving them," Longmuir said. 

"He's worked on that over the pre-season and he's been in good form for a while. 

"He's physically ready, he's done a lot of work in the gym, he's fit and he runs well. So he's one of the players that will be putting their hand up."

The Dockers haven't decided whether Andrew Brayshaw or Caleb Serong will captain the team in Pearce's absence, with the vice-captains typically rotating and sharing the game day duties. 

Longmuir said Brennan Cox and Luke Ryan would add direction in the backline without Pearce, alongside leadership group member Jordan Clark.