There is a reminder that has gnawed at Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir all summer, repeatedly surfacing on his phone where it will remain for another month until his team plays again. 

It is the final score from the Dockers’ 58-point loss to St Kilda in round 23 last year – 107-49 – which saw them surrender any claim to a top-eight spot and slide to its final ladder position of 11th.

That heavy loss represents more than just one poor game to Longmuir, however, who said the performance cut to the core of who the Dockers want to be. 

That significant misstep and others like it throughout 2021 added up to a season that, when the reviews and off-season business were done, did not sit well for the 41-year-old. 

"A big part of who I am and who I want us to be as a team is consistent," Longmuir told AFL.com.au.

"I want to make sure we're really reliable and our fans come to the game knowing what to expect. We went away from that at the end of last year.

"That last game of the year burns with me. Every time you open the AFL app it's got the last game when you follow Fremantle.

"That is a reminder of that last game every time, so that burns. That inconsistency is not what we want and we've gone about rectifying that."

To underline Longmuir's point about inconsistency, the Dockers' six heaviest defeats last season came immediately after wins, while their two biggest wins – against North Melbourne and Hawthorn – were followed by their two heaviest defeats. 

The St Kilda loss in the final round was preceded by the emotionally charged Western Derby win in round 22 that had kept the Dockers' finals hopes alive and ended an 11-game losing streak against the Eagles.

To give his players a clear path to overcome the issue, Longmuir first had to address the team's inconsistency head on.

"The first thing was to show them the inconsistency, which is really obvious when you look at a graph of our results at the end of the year," the coach said.

"There were a few things on reflection that slipped towards the end of last year, but we've rectified those."

There is cause for optimism this year, with the Dockers' investment in top-end talent through the NAB AFL Draft expected to pay off, and new leaders like 2020 NAB AFL Rising Star Caleb Serong quickly emerging from the young crop.

Midfielder Andrew Brayshaw is a captain-in-waiting and ready to take another big step, half-back Hayden Young has put ankle and hamstring issues behind him this summer, and defender Heath Chapman is finding his voice on-field as his talent becomes more obvious with every pre-season session.

There is still plenty of senior talent in place to guide them, however, and many of the wise heads, including reappointed captain Nat Fyfe, are returning to full fitness and determined to be part of a successful team. 

"It’s important to acknowledge that it's not just our youth. It's our senior players setting a really good, strong example," Longmuir said.

"A lot of what our younger players are doing they’ve learnt off our older players.

"Having said that, some of our younger players have connected the group together really well and they're bringing others along for the ride."

Entering his third season as senior coach, Longmuir was re-signed over the summer for a further two seasons, through to the end of 2024, a reward for a transformative first two years in charge.

Having returned to Perth with his young family at the end of 2019 after two years with Collingwood as an assistant, he has grown in the role and says he is excited about the season ahead.

The demands of travelling every second week have robbed him of one thing he enjoyed when with the Magpies, however, with the home-and-away pattern the Dockers share with West Coast making it difficult to watch football live.

So when Optus Stadium had the opportunity to host a semi-final, preliminary final and Grand Final last season, Longmuir was in the crowd for three weeks straight.

He walked away with clear ideas about what separated the best teams, including premier Melbourne, and how the Dockers were tracking in comparison.

"It comes back to pretty basic footy. All the finals teams are really strong in the contest with good contest method, and their offence and defence complement each other," the coach said.  

"The thing I took out of the premiers was that they had so many players willing to play selfless roles for the betterment of the team.

"A lot of their A-grade players get most of the attention, but it's the guys who sacrifice kicks, marks and handballs for the betterment of the team that they had a lot of. That was really impressive."

That selflessness is a trait Longmuir sees now at Fremantle, but he wants the club to become better at celebrating players who don't demand the headlines with starring roles.

An example last season was players voting on who had performed their role best for the team, with that player earning the right to train in the club's popular retro jumper for the next week.

The path forward and expectations are clear at Fremantle, and the building blocks all appear in place. The talent is assembled, the right people are leading the club, and there is a culture of support and high accountability that the players drive.

President Dale Alcock has declared the long rebuilding process is over and the club is on a "determined drive to commence what we know will be a period of sustained success".

An inaugural premiership for both the AFL and AFLW teams has been targeted by 2025 as part of the Dockers' strategic plan announced last November, and finals in 2022 – ending a six-year hiatus – is the logical next step.

Asked what success looks like for Fremantle this year, Longmuir was drawn back to the idea of consistency.

"We need to improve on what we did last year (and) we need to be a much more consistent team that leaves good wins and bad losses behind them and moves on to the next week," he said.

"I know everyone wants me to talk about finals and naturally that is the next progression.

"(But) this game can give you a whack in the face if you get too far ahead of yourself. I don't really see any need to say we're going to do this and we're going to do that.

"That looks after itself at the end of the day."