Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir says Jye Amiss’s five-goal Western Derby haul came as no surprise to him in the coaches’ box.

Speaking to the media following the comprehensive 56-point win over arch-rivals West Coast in Western Derby 62, Longmuir said a young key forward’s development is never linear, but his belief in Amiss has always been strong.

“Young key forwards go through their ups and downs. They have to build their game and are presented with different challenges as their careers unfold,” Longmuir said.

“That’s what I’ve seen from Jye. I think he’s had a pretty solid season as well.

“It’s the challenge of being a young key forward, progress is not always linear, and that’s the same for all players, but even more so for young key forwards.

“Throughout all the challenges he’s had, he’s always been positive. He’s always kept working on his game. He’s taken his feedback internally, and it’s good to see him getting some of the rewards.”

Amiss finished second in the Glendinning–Allan Medal count after his 13-disposal, 10-mark, five-goal performance - the first five-goal haul of his career - with Longmuir saying his rise has been building over a long time.

“Jye has actually stood up for us a lot under pressure, whether it be kicking goals when we need them in the last quarter, which is the obvious part, but throughout last year there were a lot of times when we just needed a contest from him on the wing when the opposition were coming at us, and he was just able to get it done,” Longmuir said.

“It’s probably just a bit of recency bias that we recognise last week, but he’s been good in those situations.

“He does a lot of reps during the week. He’s got a good sense of how to use his body and when to use his body in those contests.

“I’ve seen it evolve bit by bit over time, like you do with all young key forwards.”

Speaking more broadly on the Western Derby win, Longmuir said although he was pleased with the result, the side still had areas to improve.

“I thought they were tough in the contest and got field position early,” Longmuir said.

“We were probably a little bit lucky with some of the missed shots early, but overall I was proud of the way we got the game on our terms and fought through those early challenges.

“Overall, we won every quarter and won the game comprehensively, so we came here and did what we had to do.

“We’ve still got a bit of work to do on our game.”

Fremantle will now face Carlton in Round 7 in the club’s Len Hall Tribute Game on Saturday, 25 April at Optus Stadium.