Senior Coach Justin Longmuir has given insight into his backline selection strategy as he faces some difficult decisions ahead of Fremantle’s clash with Essendon on Sunday at Marvel Stadium.

Key defender Alex Pearce is currently recovering from a sore ankle, but if he is fit, the versatile Griffin Logue faces omission despite being one of Fremantle’s best in their round four win against GWS.

Logue helped repel the Giants’ forward advances with five intercept marks and nine spoils. His efforts helped limit the Giants scoring from just 35.6 per cent of their inside 50s, well below the league average of 46 per cent and Fremantle’s 55 per cent for the game.

While Essendon have one of the AFL’s tallest forward lines, Longmuir is reluctant to go into games being too tall down back, instead opting for a more agile backline that can attack on the rebound.

He said he would ‘likely’ only select two of Freo’s three key backs from the 201cm Pearce, 195cm Cox and 194cm Logue - as has been the case in the past fortnight.

One reason was the height of half back Heath Chapman (193cm) and the ability of Luke Ryan to play tall despite standing at 186cm.

“We thought earlier in the year that we were a bit top heavy in our backline with the three talls, plus Luke Ryan and Heath Chapman, who both play as that third tall and a bit taller,” Longmuir said.

“We felt like we were a bit vulnerable against smaller forward lines. We feel like that mix has been better for us in the past couple of weeks.”

The Bombers’ forwards are set to go into the game with a height advantage, boasting the 203cm Peter Wright and rucks Sam Draper (205cm) and Andrew Phillips (201cm) rotating through the forward line.

Wright is currently tied for third in the Coleman with 12 goals, one behind leaders Tom Hawkins and Max King.

Longmuir said he favoured Pearce for selection if fit due to his leadership and his height.

“Pearcey’ was our captain (in rounds two and three) so if he’s fit, he’ll play,” Longmuir said.

“I think he’s a really good matchup for Peter Wright, who’s clearly one of the in-form forwards in the competition, especially with his marking.

“We can change it around, we’ve also got Brennan Cox, he can play on the talls as well. ‘Pearcey’ is probably our preferred matchup just because of the sheer size of Wright, but I think we can get around that if he doesn’t play.”

Despite the Bombers’ aerial threats, it won’t be the main concern for Fremantle’s backline and team defence.

Freo have been one of the top-ranked pressure teams so far in 2022 and Longmuir said that would need to continue on Sunday.

“We saw a lift in Essendon’s forward half game on the weekend against Adelaide, their pressure in particular was back to last year’s pressure,” Longmuir said.

“They’re very creative offensively. They play with really good momentum in their offence and they can score heavily. We’re going to have to bring out our best defensive game.”

While Longmuir may dread heading to the selection table, he said Fremantle’s availability was a credit to the Club’s strength and conditioning staff.

Provided Pearce, Caleb Serong (knee) and Darcy Tucker (concussion) pass their fitness tests to be available for selection, only Nat Fyfe (back) and Lachie Schultz (health and safety protocols) will be unavailable from Fremantle’s best 22.

“Our fitness staff have done a great job getting our players fit and available,” Longmuir said.

“We’ve spoken a lot about competition for spots, we’re in a healthy position to be in as a footy Club. If a player is playing their role for the team, he’ll keep his spot in the side, if he doesn’t there will be someone else to come in and take that spot.”

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