Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir wants fans to get excited, but says the challenge for his playing group is to stay grounded and live in the moment.
Speaking at his post-match media conference following the thrilling 15-point come-from-behind win against Hawthorn, Longmuir paid tribute to the Purple Army who packed Optus Stadium.
“I’m happy for our fans to be excited, we’re playing an exciting brand of footy,” Longmuir said.
“We’ve won a lot of games in a row. Our fans have been starved for success.
“Our fans should be excited about the path we’re on, but our challenge is to just stay in the moment and give every team our best. That’s been our mantra all year and it won’t change.
“We’ve done a lot of work on that, to be able to stay in the moment, to be able to ignore what the outside world is saying and making sure that we value the right things week to week. We get our feedback from the right areas.”
Down by 19 points early in the final quarter, Longmuir’s side dug in and produced a stirring come-from-behind finish against the Hawks to win an eighth straight game, the best winning streak under Longmuir.
One of the key areas in Fremantle’s stunning comeback was key defender Brennan Cox’s second half, matching it with Jack Gunston, who kicked five goals in the first half.
“(His second half) was huge,” Longmuir said.
“I thought not even Stephen Silvagni would have been able to stop Gunston in the first half the way we were letting them transition the ball.
“When you allow a good team like that to transition the ball through the corridor like we did, it’s so hard for a backline.
“We took that away from him in the second half, which helped Coxy, and I thought he was a bit more proactive with his positioning, which gave him first look at the ball.
“From that position, he actually came forward and made some big plays as well. So, yeah, happy with the way he rebounded.”
The Thursday night crowd of 54,140 was the second highest non-Derby home and away Fremantle attendance at Optus Stadium.
Fremantle will now enjoy a weekend off and nine days between their Round 9 clash with Essendon at the MCG as part of Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
