Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir never doubted his players could produce the dominant second half they unleashed on Sydney, saying their goalless first half still displayed signs that they were getting on top.

The Dockers turned a 25-point deficit into a 38-point victory after kicking 100 points in the second half. Their outstanding play included nine goals in the final quarter as they won 15.21 (111) to 10.13 (73) at Optus Stadium.

While players and fans were clearly frustrated after kicking 11 straight points in the first half, Longmuir said he knew that would change after the long break.

“I thought our second quarter, in particular, was strong without hitting the scoreboard as much as we would like,” he said.

“It’s about process, right? The law of averages will say that you’re not going to kick 0.22 for the game. So you’ve just to keep maintaining faith in the in the process and the plan that we went in with, and eventually the scoreboard will will look after itself.

“Once we got the crowd into it, you know, it becomes quite daunting, I would imagine, for the opposition, and the floodgates open with the amount of field position we were getting.”

Fremantle’s ability to produce purple patches has been a feature of their season and they have regularly blown games apart in a short period of time.

Longmuir was proud that his players no longer lose focus and chase individual success once they get on top.

“What I think we’ve got better at is when we’ve got control of the game, we stick to the plan, and we don’t get ahead of ourselves,” he said.

“We don’t prioritise the wrong things, which I think we’ve maybe done in the past. It was ‘I want to get a lick of the ice cream, or I want to be a part of this.’ It’s no, steady, the ship, we’ve got momentum, let’s keep imposing ourselves the right way. I think that’s that’s been a big difference, and allowed us to be really dominant in games.

“It all starts in the contest. We got better at stoppage in the second half, took the ball forward from stoppage in the second half, and put their backs under a lot of pressure. We’re able to lean in and stay focused on what’s got us there, rather than losing focus and focusing on outcomes and getting a lick of the ice cream, and that type of mindset.”