Fremantle senior coach Justin Longmuir’s message to players trying to break into the AFL side is simple, opportunities will come.
Speaking at his Wednesday morning media conference, Longmuir said with availability at a premium and competition for spots high, his message to players currently not in the AFL side was simply to keep fronting up.
“It's just about being ready when an opportunity comes,” Longmuir said.
“They’ve been around footy long enough that they'll know there'll be an opportunity between now and the end of the year, and they just need to make sure that they're in really good form, doing what we ask at Peel to be ready to take an opportunity.
“We’ve seen a number of times throughout the year where we've had a few injuries and players have had to step up.
“I mentioned Driz (Nathan O’Driscoll) before, he's one of those examples.
“He probably went out of the team and was unlucky. He started the year, and then an opportunity presented when Caleb (Serong) and a couple of others got injured, and he came in and played his role, and he stayed in the team.
“That can happen to any of those guys currently outside the team.”
The build of the Club’s strong form is a testament to what Longmuir says has come from lessons learned and continuity from late 2025.
Asked whether the signs were there in pre-season, Longmuir said it started before that.
“I think back into last year, we were in pretty consistent form.
“We had a six win streak and maybe a five win streak, so we've been in pretty good form for a long time now,” Longmuir said.
“All the things I've spoken about, staying in the moment, that type of thing, that's been building over time, and there's never one person or one moment that gets you to this stage.
“It's learning from the experiences in the past and building on what we're doing, getting better week in, week out.
“I don't know whether it was pre-season, but it's been building for a long time.”
Fremantle will fly to Canberra on Thursday to face GWS at Corroboree Group Oval on Saturday 4 July.
