Senior coach Justin Longmuir has said Fremantle will take plenty of lessons from its pre-season clash against Melbourne, as focus now shifts to the beginning of the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season and the Club’s Round 1 meeting with Geelong.

Fremantle was able to get valuable minutes into the majority of the squad that will likely form the makeup of the Round 1 team, with senior coach Justin Longmuir stating that the team would ‘sharpen’ on areas of their game ahead of the Cats clash.

“Some good, some bad (lessons from the game). I can imagine Goody (Simon Goodwin) would have said the same thing,” Longmuir said post-match.

“Our first half, especially the second quarter, was pretty good. High quality, had the game on our terms, and then fell away in the contest in the second half, which put a lot of pressure on our ball use.

“I think we got through unscathed; we got some good minutes into our players, and there will be some good lessons to sharpen us up for Round 1.

“Our decision-making and execution have to come up to the mark, and I’m really confident that will happen pretty quickly.”

After playing against the Indigenous All Stars in mid-February, Sunday’s win over Melbourne was the first time the Club’s team was a singular unit, following several players, including trade acquisition Shai Bolton and veteran Michael Walters, both featuring for the All Stars.

Walters and Bolton both shone, combining for five goals in the 19-point win over the Demons, with both players having highlight moments with classy goals.

“It was his (Bolton’s) first competitive game with us. In our last game against opposition, he was on the opposition,” Longmuir said.

“I think he led us for score involvements off a pretty low possession base. He kicked a nice goal, and he created opportunities for others.

“He’ll build off that.”

Speaking on Walters, Longmuir said the veteran forward had put in significant work to build toward the season.

“He (Walters) was really pushing the clock to play in the All Stars game, and from there, he’s gone really well,” Longmuir said.

“Last week in the intraclub, he played a lot of minutes and played really well.

“He places strong importance on his role and doing the little things for his team. I thought he took another step forward today.”

In conjunction with Longmuir’s comments about sharpening the side for Round 1, key defender Brennan Cox said his first full pre-season in the past couple of years will hold him in good stead as he continues to build throughout the season.

“The body feels good, and I haven’t had a full pre-season in the last couple of years, so it’s good to get one in finally,” Cox said post-match.

“Getting good basic fitness and then improving your speed of the game and reactions, and being able to take that into Round 1 and build off that throughout the year, definitely helps.

“When the other teams are playing in Opening Round, we’ll have a big training session, and we’ll treat that as pretty much our game, and then have a standard week this week.

“That will lead into Round one for us.”

Fremantle begins its season with a Round 1 meeting with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday 15 March.