Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir impressed with off-season bonding as players return in impressive shape

An unbreakable off-field bond and a desire to improve when nobody is watching has reinforced an air of optimism at Fremantle, according to senior coach Justin Longmuir. With travel restrictions preventing several interstate Dockers from heading home over the break, players spent the off-season training in small groups and returned in impressive shape, put to the test over four one-kilometre time trials last week. But while Fremantle’s fitness impressed, Longmuir was just as pleased with the way his playing squad worked to strengthen their alliance in the Dockers’ pursuit of a premiership by 2025. “The whole off-season, our players have not only done the work which is really impressive and good as a senior coach but they’ve remained really connected and really cared for each other over the off-season,” Longmuir told members. “To see the value and trademark and ‘for the anchor’ living when they’re not at the football club is really pleasing and important. “Football lasts for 22 rounds but the care and connection they show for each other is 12 months of the year. They really displayed that over the break.” Executive General Manager of Football Peter Bell said the fashion in which players returned to pre-season clearly reflected the hard yards they’d put in during the break. “What was most encouraging over the recent leave period was the sheer number of players who were coming in together in groups and making use of the facilities,” he said. “Obviously COVID made things a bit more difficult but players were coming in together and engaging with each other. “You could tell by the way our one-to-four players turned up in physical condition, they’d done a lot of work, notwithstanding that it had been in their leave period.”