Fremantle’s best 22 for the 2022 season is far from settled, with senior coach Justin Longmuir believing that any of the players Freo select this week at the NAB AFL Draft are capable of having a big impact in their first year.

Freo’s headline picks will be selected on Wednesday, with two top 10 selections currently at no.6 and no.8.

They will have the first pick on the Thursday night, currently pick 19, and also hold selections 60 and 68.

While Longmuir is uncertain about who Fremantle would select, he was confident the Club’s recruiters would land a group of quality players.

“The kids seem to be coming through a lot more mature these days, a bit more developed as well in certain areas, especially they seem to be a lot more ready for the AFL environment,” Longmuir told AFL.com.au in an interview with Cal Twomey and Riley Beveridge.

“We’ve seen over the past 10 years, players have come in and had impact straight away. That excites me, as you don’t have to put any limitations on what they can achieve in their first year.

“I think there’s a good array of players. There’s ruck/forwards and key forwards and players that can play all over the ground. You get to this stage of the year and the draft, there’s a lot of talent around.”

Twomey asked Longmuir about his thoughts on East Perth sharpshooter Jye Amiss, who Twomey projects Fremantle will select with their first pick of the draft.

“I’m pretty unsure about what’s going to unfold in front of us at the moment,” Longmuir said.

“I’ve watched a bit of Jye’s footage, he seems like a really smart key forward, he’s had a great year in the (WAFL) Colts competition.

“I think the directive from the footy Club has been to take the best available, so we’ll just have to weigh up and see where he fits when our picks come along.

“If he lands at our Club, we think he can play a lot of footy for us but we’ll have to cross that bridge when it comes.”

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Amiss is joined by a handful of quality WA-based players at the draft, including midfielder Matthew Johnson, midfielder Neil Erasmus, forward Jacob van Rooyen, small forward Jesse Motlop, key forward Jack Williams and key defender/forward Rhett Bazzo.

But Longmuir said it would be a mistake if Fremantle solely focused on WA players.

“I think it’s a fine line to tread. Personally, we just have to back the Club in to take the best player and retain whoever you pick with the next player on your draft sheet,” Longmuir said.

“I think if you have a fixed mindset of just choosing WA kids you can miss out on some talent.

“It was well documented last year that Adam Cerra left the Club but we feel like we’re setting up an environment that players will want to stay and make an impact for a number of years.

“(Players like) Andy Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Hayden Young…they’re really invested in what we’re trying to do. You have to back in your culture to retain those players. I think it’s a fine line to tread and best available is the way I would do it.”

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