Former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says the chance to ensure his successor Justin Longmuir doesn’t break his club record for most consecutive wins at the Dockers is “irrelevant” to him.

Lyon and Euro-Yroke (St Kilda) will head west to tackle the in-form Dockers — who have adopted the name Walyalup for Sir Doug Nicholls Round — at Optus Stadium on Friday night.

Fremantle are hunting a club-record 10th consecutive victory when they step out in the blockbuster clash which is expected to draw more than 50,000 fans.

Longmuir has led the Dockers to nine straight wins for only the third time in the club’s existence, with Lyon the last coach to do so in 2015 when they went undefeated for the opening nine games.

Lyon’s star-studded outfit went on to claim the minor premiership with a 17-5 record before being bundled out in a preliminary final to Hawthorn, before the Hawks made it a hat-trick of flags.

It marked the end of an era at the Dockers, who collapsed to win only four matches the next season before Lyon was eventually sacked in 2019.

Lyon was at his playful best with the media on Wednesday when the streak was brought up by reporters.

“I thought we won 13 or something? I thought in ‘15 we won something like 13. Was it only nine? It felt like 13. I think we were 13-1,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. I think I’ve coached 18 in a row and 20 in a row, and we fell short on grand final day. You’d prefer to be 9-1 or whatever. Is that what they are?

“You’re only as good as your next moment, which we’re seeing around the league. There’s been hot teams, cold teams; it all starts again. You’ve got to pay the price again.”

Asked what it would mean to end the streak, Lyon said: “Irrelevant to be honest, I don’t live in that space. I just come in here and get better every day.

“As I say, we all have a history at clubs. We all make a mark and move on, so I certainly don’t look back.

“If you look back you’re depressed; if you look forward you’re anxious, stay in the moment. Stay in the present, that’s where I live.”

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said setting a club record was not on his mind as they looked to continue their run of dominance.

“I’ve got enough motivation. I don’t need stuff like that,” Longmuir said.

“It’s not that those things don’t matter in the long run, but it doesn’t help you win games of footy focusing on those things. I don’t need motivation to do my work off the back of those sorts of records.

“It’s more like leaning in on the process and controlling what we can control. That’s been where our focus has stood, and it’s held us in good stead.”

The Saints head west injury-depleted. Star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera will miss another fortnight with a calf injury, while Jack Higgins (knee) joins fellow forwards Liam Ryan (calf), Mitch Owens (calf) and Max King (hamstring) on the sidelines.

Lyon said his team was excited for the game against the powerhouse outfit who are chasing top spot.

“They’re doing a lot well, aren’t they? They’ve won a lot of close games, (are) a formidable opposition. They don’t seem to have a weakness at the minute,” Lyon said.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge. We’ve travelled well, our game’s coming together. I think they’ve got a couple of availability challenges as we have, ours are particularly in the front half with Higgins and Owens out, and King and Ryan.

“We’re up for the fight, we’re looking forward to the challenge, we’re looking forward to the audit. It’s a great stadium, Friday night, both teams off a five-day break, which is nice to have a bit of sameness in that. It’s an exciting match for us.”

While Longmuir isn’t overly concerned about setting a club record, he did reveal how the Dockers could become the best team in the AFL.

“I think it’s just on the back of our consistency. We’ve got some areas in our game in all phases that we would like to tidy up and get better at and seek improvement, but overall, it’s just really our consistency and being able to do it for longer,” Longmuir said.

“We’re never going to control a game of footy for four quarters. It’s just not going to happen in modern-day footy because it’s more open, it’s more offensive, so the opposition is going to have momentum swings. It’s being able to lean in and play our way during those moments and minimise those moments.

“Our best footy is as good as anyone’s, it’s just a matter of searching for a bit more consistency with it. It’s a challenge because you do not want to be peaking at round 10 or at round 11, do you? I know we’re still building and we’ll continue to do so.”

Fremantle sit second in the premiership market with TABTouch at $4.60, only behind dual reigning premiers Brisbane ($4.50), with ladder-leaders Sydney ($4.75) just behind.

There is a widespread belief that for a West Australian team to win the premiership, they must finish inside the top two because of the significant travel factor.

Asked about the theory, Longmuir said: “I think there’s some merit in all of those comments, but first of all, you have got to win enough games to get into the finals, and you’ve got to win enough games to qualify as high as you can.

“There’s some long-term planning and thinking and ideas that get thrown around, but that’s all in the background.

“What we’re trying to bring to the foreground and to the players is what they need to do each day and what they need to do each week. It’s so early in the season to be talking about those sorts of things or getting carried away with those sorts of things.

“I am sure there’s some planning that goes on behind the scenes, but it’s not at the forefront of our thinking.”