Speaking at his Wednesday morning media conference, Fremantle Senior Coach Justin Longmuir detailed how valuing the right things has held the club in good stead in previous trips to Geelong.
Longmuir has a perfect 2-0 record against the Cats at GMHBA Stadium since becoming Fremantle’s Senior Coach in 2020.
“It’s talked about so much – some of the factors of going to Geelong: the length of the travel, the size of the ground, the crowd, and this and that,” Longmuir said.
“You get caught up in those things, and those things don’t actually help you win a game of footy, so we’ve tried to make sure we’re focused on the right things.”
“Embrace the trip, embrace the crowd, embrace the size of the ground, and get out there and play footy. I think we’ve been able to value the right things when we’ve gone down there the last couple of times, and it’s got the job done.”
When asked about how the team would plan for the Jeremy Cameron matchup, Longmuir was firm in his belief that it was not down to any one individual, but rather a team collective defensive effort.
“I wouldn’t want to give too much away, but I think we’ve got some players that can get up the ground and run with him (Cameron) and match him on the way back,” Longmuir said.
“I think what we do up the field to slow Geelong down plays a pretty big part in that as well.
“We obviously respect what he does because he’s a great player, but I think it’s been more our team defence that has helped up the field rather than direct matchups.”
“We need to make sure we defend as a back six, which is the same as what they do. They are probably the best at it in the competition in terms of the opportunity for looking after your own man but also helping, especially with those long balls in.
“We’re trying to do that with all our players, not just Luke (Ryan).”
With bounce-down commencing at 10.20am WST on Saturday morning, an earlier game time than usual, Longmuir said the team had prepared accordingly throughout the pre-season.
“It can be a little bit awkward (the time difference). It is what it is, we’ll prepare,” Longmuir said.
“We’ve done all our intraclubs early in the morning. The players got used to playing early; we train early. It is something we can adjust to, but it is a little bit different early in the year with a three-hour time difference.”
Fremantle’s final team will be announced later this afternoon via fremantlefc.com.au at 3.20pm WST.
