Will Fremantle’s Justin Longmuir win Coach of the Year? Alex Pearce and Shai Bolton give him high praise

Is it time to start talking about Justin Longmuir as the Coach of the Year? The Dockers’ stunning run of 11 wins from 12 games to lift them from 11th to fourth has Fremantle in contention for a top-four finish but their improvement is evident in more than just their ladder position. Fremantle now have won six of their eight games against top-nine teams. Last year that record was 3-8 along with one draw. The Dockers’ inability to win close games last season cost them a finals spot. This year they’ve won close matches, including when trailing at three-quarter time in five of their past six games. Longmuir has tried stuff. Alex Pearce went forward to win the game against Port Adelaide. He’s made players better. Pat Voss has emerged from nowhere. Murphy Reid has risen from pick 17 to possibly the AFL Rising Star. He’s covered for injuries. The top 10 players from last year’s Doig Medal have missed a combined 50 matches. Injuries produced disasters last year. He’s stuck to his beliefs. Everyone said Luke Jackson and Sean Darcy couldn’t play together.. Longmuir disagreed and Fremantle have an 8-3 record when they’re in the same team. The Dockers are beating top teams and they’re doing it on the road - Collingwood, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast. Pearce said Longmuir’s coaching had been superb. “He’s coaching really well,” Pearce said. “He’s got a lot of trust in the players. One of the hardest things is for the coach to give control to his assistants, the playing group and the leaders. He’s got a great balance at the moment of being really forthright and having a really clear message but also being able to leverage the experience within the group and listening to the players. “At half-time (against Port Adelaide) he gave a really honest and direct message. We were really clear about what it was going to take to get back into the game and get things back to playing the way we wanted. That’s what happened. It feels really aligned between myself and JL, the leaders and the senior players. It makes a big difference.” Longmuir faces stiff competition for the best coach of 2025. Matthew Nicks has Adelaide on top of the ladder. Chris Scott, Craig McRae and Chris Fagan keep producing premiership contenders and Damien Hardwick has Gold Coast set for an inaugural finals campaign. Shai Bolton won premierships at Richmond under Hardwick before moving to Fremantle. He’s been impressed with Longmuir’s tactical acumen and his ability to pick the right time to use his emotions. “He’s pretty calm but when the boys aren’t playing the greatest, he’ll give us a spray because that’s what we need. When we need to get going, he knows when to give us a spray or when to be calm,” Bolton said. “The way he wants us to play in the contest is to be relentless with the way we put our pressure on. “He’s obviously a good coach because he makes moves during the game and we end up winning. Him making the change of Moose going forward clearly worked for us.”