JUSTIN Longmuir has an equation he likes to use when discussing performance with his players that captures how he coaches, why the Dockers have handled expectations this season, and what they will be leaning on when pressure hits in Saturday's Grand Final. 

'Performance equals capabilities minus distractions' is the equation, which is adapted from The Inner Game of Tennis author Timothy Gallwey, and it highlights the importance in sport of what Longmuir and Fremantle call the 'mental game'. 

There is no doubt the Dockers have been a team with their capabilities mostly in good order, but the distractions in that equation have cost them at different points under Longmuir as they grew from a talented but inconsistent group into the best team of 2026. 

While the mental side of the game is something that all teams address, it is baked into Longmuir's coaching philosophies and is viewed as a big reason behind the Dockers' rise to their second ever Grand Final. 

From star forwards Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss and Pat Voss to midfielders like Caleb Serong and Corey Wagner, the Dockers have prioritised the mental game for years under Longmuir and will draw on those skills in the biggest game in the club's history. 

"Why I do it is pretty easy," Longmuir told AFL.com.au on the eve of the finals when asked why he places such emphasis on coaching the mental game. 

"I think it's the most important part of being a professional athlete. The best players are the most consistent players, and the most consistent players are the ones who are able to consistently focus on a process that allows them to perform well.

"It sounds really easy when you just say it like that, but there's a lot that goes into it, and there's a lot of distractions that an AFL player or a professional sportsperson is presented with.

"For me, the mental game is teaching players or helping players to be able to remove those distractions and allow them to focus on what's important."

Named as the AFL Coaches Association's Coach of the Year on Tuesday night, Longmuir's focus on the mental game has come to life in the 1-0 mantra the Dockers have lived by this season. 

The 45-year-old is a student of American sport and came across an NFL clip about a team successfully building its season with the 1-0 focus, introducing it to the Dockers during the pre-season. 

While 'Flagmantle' hype and two-team town scrutiny had previously impacted the Dockers under Longmuir, there has been a clear shift in the group's mindset in 2026. The players and coaches have accepted the Freo fanbase will ride the rollercoaster of the season, but they will not. The 1-0 mantra is exactly what they needed. 

"Some of that framing has allowed us to stay in the moment when we've been going really well, which I don't think we have handled in the past," Longmuir said. 

"We've probably got ahead of ourselves and haven't valued the right things consistently when we've been getting pats on the back as a club.

"But to be able to go on a winning streak of 14 games shows that clearly we're now able to handle all those pats on the back and all the finals talk, and all those experiences hopefully should hold us in really good stead."

The Dockers' investment in the mental side of the game is evident throughout their football program. It started under former performance psychologist Neil McLean as players utilised handbooks to track, understand and improve their mental preparation, and continues now under club psychologist Jo Ayers. 

Players openly speak about the impact mental preparation has on their football, with key forward Treacy telling AFL.com.au in 2023 that catching up with McLean weekly had been a "massive stepping stone" for his game.  

Co-vice-captain Serong then credited his work with a performance psychologist for his career-best 2024, which resulted in the second of three consecutive Doig medals and All Australian blazers. 

Then this year both Amiss and Voss have highlighted the way sports psychology had allowed them to bounce back from mistakes and move on to take their moments in games when they arrive. 

"I see it as 50-50 with the physical and mental side," Amiss told AFL.com.au earlier this month. 

"I've done a lot of work on that with our sports psych at the club. I see her every week, and I think that's really helped me in those moments to understand that where it may not be your quarter, or it might not be your game, it can be your moment."

Wagner, meanwhile, said the mental game was so important for players that it can be the difference between playing in the AFL or at a lower level.  

In a game that requires players to take risks and be instinctive, the 29-year-old said it was important for players to find an approach that worked for them to get in the right mindset to perform. 

"I'd say it's crucial, because if you don't have that right, I've definitely felt that at Melbourne and North Melbourne where I've finished a game and I don't even know what happened because I just wasn't in the moment," Wagner said. 

"You can drift and forget to enjoy where you are. But I think of how much I enjoyed the [semi-final against Geelong] and it's because my mental side was so happy. 

"I enjoyed where my feet were and I didn't care if I made mistakes because I know my family loves me, and it's just little things like that that help.

"What JL's been able to do with the boys this year is feel comfortable in themselves and just work out what they need mentally to be ready. It's the biggest thing you need to play AFL, to be honest."

The proof of Fremantle's mental strength this season is the eight games, including last Friday night's preliminary final, in which they have come from behind at three-quarter time to win. 

Forwards coach Jaymie Graham has watched Longmuir coach the 'mental game' for years and encouraged players like Treacy himself to put extra time into that area of their preparation. 

There has been no bigger week in Fremantle's history as it enters its second Grand Final and chases a maiden premiership, and managing distractions will be essential. It's a moment the organised Longmuir has been building towards for years. 

"We've had some really close games this year where the players' maturity in their mental game is starting to show," Graham told AFL.com.au.

"It started with 'performance equals capabilities minus distractions', and then that's where he's really had a focus on us going 1-0 all season. 

"Really, what he's trying to do is reduce the outside noise and focus on us coming in, winning each day, and preparing for the opposition's best.

"It is an area of coaching that JL really invests in, and he coaches it pretty hard."