From the AFL Coach

JUSTIN LONGMUIR

After a year of progress, all of the players have returned from their off-season with a real hunger to get better in all aspects of their game.

Everyone committed to their off-season program, and while many took the opportunity to go overseas for the first time in a few years, the players connected with each other as much as they could.

It means everyone came back in really good shape so we could get to work straight away.

There’s also plenty of work to do off the track and we’re focused on making the most of the time we have. Expectations are high, so we need to maintain our focus and make sure we’re purposeful every day.

We took some good steps forward in 2022, but the exciting thing is, there are some obvious areas to work on and improve.

The Bulldogs game was a clear highlight, mostly because it was a final and the atmosphere at Optus Stadium was at another level.

But we had a few other great wins, especially on the road. Our form interstate was arguably the biggest positive to take from a season where there was a lot of growth.

That said, the Semi Final loss to Collingwood was obviously a disappointing way to finish the year. We won’t make excuses or shy away from that performance, instead use it as fuel for our pre-season.

We’ve reviewed the game plan without making wholesale changes. Our priority is developing consistency in our performances each week and within games, because we can’t rely on 41-point comebacks every week.

We’ll also be focussed on bringing our new recruits and draftees up to speed as quickly as we can.

Luke Jackson can play in a lot of different areas, but in the short term he’ll be focusing on building a good partnership with Sean Darcy as a ruck-forward.

David Mundy’s retirement opens up a spot in the midfield and Jaeger O’Meara is a very accomplished footballer who can add a lot to our on-field performance.

He’s also a great character who adds to the professionalism we have in our group. He’ll be an important leader to our younger players.

Josh Corbett is going to give us a different dynamic up forward. We want to make more from our inside 50s and he’s someone that leads at the footy really well. His work rate is phenomenal and he’s going to provide us another option.

As well as there being a lot of room for growth in our playing group, I feel the same can be said for our coaching group.

Jaymie Graham is going into his second year and Matthew Boyd is going into his third year.

Joel Corey’s stepping up for his first year as the assistant coach in charge of the midfield, and while it was disappointing to lose Josh Carr, we see a lot of potential in Joel and we’re thrilled to give him this opportunity. As a group, we’re still working on our connection and seeing how we can collaborate better. It’s all about giving our players the best opportunity to improve and perform.

After six years out of the AFL finals it was great to see that excitement return to the Freo family. As a player and coach at Fremantle, I know first-hand how passionate our members and supporters are.

WE TOOK SOME GOOD

STEPS FORWARD IN 2022, BUT THE EXCITING

THING IS, THERE ARE SOME OBVIOUS AREAS TO WORK ON AND IMPROVE. “

The other side of that coin is managing how our players handle the increased excitement and expectation. There were probably moments throughout the year where we didn’t handle it as well as we could have.

As you build your success you get these opportunities to learn, and that will hold us in good stead for 2023, where we hope we can see that same level of excitement from our fans.

This is especially so on game days. We won’t forget what 60,000 Freo fans sounds like at Optus Stadium, it’s an atmosphere that is unparalleled in the AFL and it really helps the players with their energy on game days.

I can assure you we’ll be hard at work through the summer with an eye on round one, and we can’t wait to see you then.