Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says competition for spots is helping to drive players at the pointy end of pre-season.

After hosting cross-town rivals West Coast in match simulation at the Club’s Cockburn headquarters on Saturday, Fremantle now turn their attention to the Adelaide Crows next weekend.

Saturday's clash at Rushton Park in Mandurah will be Freo’s final hit-out of pre-season.

“There’s good competition at the moment - it keeps everyone on edge,” coach Justin Longmuir told media post-match.

Dual All Australian defender Luke Ryan knows all about the race for spots, unable to force his way into the first choice squad for match simulation against West Coast after undergoing post-season shoulder surgery.

“There’s others ahead of him (Luke Ryan) at the moment,” said Longmuir.

“Others have had a bigger and better pre-season than him, through no real fault of Luke. He’s come back from that shoulder reconstruction, so he’s only had a couple of intraclubs as a run-in, where other guys have had a longer run-in.

“Banners (Bailey Banfield) is a bit the same – he hurt his quad and missed a couple of weeks so has been pushed back in the pecking order.

“We’ve got some good competition for spots at the moment and if you haven’t done a full pre-season, you’ve been left behind a little bit. But there’s plenty of time to catch up and earn a spot.”

Longmuir says he’s happy to be building flexibility in his side at both ends of the ground ahead of season 2026 and praised the run and carry of defenders Brandon Walker, Judd McVee and Jordan Clark.

In attack, key forwards Jye Amiss (four goals), Pat Voss (three goals) and Josh Treacy (one goal) kicked the bulk of the goals against the Eagles, while young gun Murphy Reid continued to impress with his delivery inside 50.

“He’s probably our best ball user forward of centre - he sees the game really well,” Longmuir said.

“He’s got some things he needs to work on, probably the defensive side of the game.

“He needs to swim between the flags and do the basics at times, instead of the mercurial. His kicking inside 50 – I know the forwards lick their lips.”