Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has asked his players to view their 3-0 start to the season as a “great opportunity”.

The Dockers have launched into 2024 with a hat-trick of victories, their strongest start since 2015, with a clash looming against another top-four candidate Carlton in Adelaide during Gather Round.

“Footy is a tough game and wins are hard to come by. We need to enjoy this,” Longmuir said after last night’s dogged 35-point win over Adelaide at Optus Stadium.

“We have had a really tough start to the year. People might say we haven’t beaten a team that’s won a game.

“But we played Brisbane, who were grand finalists last year and coming off a game already. We have played back to back six day breaks off travel. That is a tough start to the season for a WA team.

“We need to enjoy this win, come in Monday and we will put a stop to it and focus on Carlton.

“Consistency works on both ends of the scale, whether you are 0-3 or 3-0.

“Nothing really changes. There is still outside noise. It is just a bit more positive. We can’t read into that.

“We still have plenty to build on, plenty of improvement still in us. Players should see this as a great opportunity.”

The victory was set up by a strong defensive effort, led by captain Alex Pearce, who held Adelaide spearhead Taylor Walker goalless, half-back Jordan Clark, intercept linchpin Luke Ryan (742 metres gained) and youngster Josh Draper, who impressed in his second AFL game.

“I thought the captain played an outstanding game. His ability to come off and impact and defend his direct man was unbelievable,” Longmuir said.

The Dockers trailed at quarter-time for the third week in a row, but still found a way to win.

Led by a forward line masterclass from veteran Michael Walters, who kicked 2.5 - 2.4 up til the major break - but they were unable to put a gap on the opposite despite a 52-44 inside 50 victory until late in the final term.

The coach likened Walters to a “fine wine”. “You saw it, he was everywhere,” Longmuir said.

“Outstanding. He is as fit as he’s ever been and he hasn’t lost any skill.”

Hayden Young led the midfield group with 32 disposals, eight clearances and seven inside 50s, while Caleb Serong’s ability to shake off close attention from Rory Laird in the first quarter and work his way back into the game was also critical.

Asked about another slow start, Longmuir said: “The game goes for four quarters.”

“I’d rather be behind at quarter-time and win than the other teams we’ve played and be in front and lost.

“Today was our most consistent four quarter performance. We won our inside 50s in the first quarter. We had some things in our favour but we just weren’t defending well at all.

“Once we tidied up a bit of stuff defensively we were able to play the game in our front half.

“We haven’t got every aspect of our game right in first quarters but we have been able to adjust.”

Longmuir was frustrated at the 9.15 scoreline, which was 4.7 at the major break, but said the Dockers had been able to wrestle the game back on their terms.

“We knew coming into the game the way we wanted to set the game up, we wanted to make it an arm-wrestle,” he said.

“I thought we did that but on the flip side we should have made more of our field position, especially in the second quarter. I think we kicked 2.5 on the back of a lot of supply.

“Adelaide are a high-scoring group and after the last couple of years when they have kicked 100 points they haven’t lost a game.

“So we didn’t want to allow them to be free-wheeling and get the game on their terms. We needed to take a few things away from them.

“I thought we did that. I thought we forced them into areas where they were less dangerous. I thought our contest work and our ability to compete and butter up after mistakes was a real highlight.”