Fremantle Senior Coach Justin Longmuir said the RAC Derby 60 win over West Coast was a look at the brand of football the Club wants to be consistently playing.
A 38-point victory was highlighted by the team's ability to create scoring opportunities, with 65 inside 50s and 31 scoring shots. The forward line’s 21 marks inside 50 was the Club’s equal-most in a match since 2023.
“I’m really proud of the way we’ve handled the last two weeks,” Longmuir said in his post-match media conference.
“There has been a lot of pressure on us, which is understandable given our performance against Geelong, but we’ve stuck firm to our process, and our focus has been on improving our footy.
"The scoreboard probably doesn’t indicate the dominance of that performance.
"Strong contested ball, strong front-half defence—I thought that was a good indication of how we want to play.
“We’ve got a lot of improvement left in us, but largely we played for each other today, and it was a smaller gap between our best and worst.”
Longmuir touched on star midfielder Caleb Serong, who won his fourth Glendinning-Allan Medal, equaling Paul Hasleby's all-time record.
Serong was a standout performer, gathering 35 disposals, 17 contested possessions and 10 clearances.
“He’s one of the most consistent players in the AFL,” Longmuir said.
“That’s because he’s one of the most consistent players between games in the AFL.
“He’s a great role model, as are all the other leaders who do the same thing and set a great example for our younger guys.”
Speaking about Shai Bolton’s arrival at the Club, Longmuir was adamant that the electrifying forward had exceeded his expectations, given Bolton’s interrupted pre-season.
“To be honest, he’s probably exceeded my expectations because I’ve seen the low base he’s come off,” Longmuir said.
“The intensity at which he’s played, the pressure, the tackles—he’s added something different to our centre bounce with his ability to harass and get a fingernail in.
“He’s probably searching for that first goal and probably searching a little bit too hard at times, but he’s created a lot of opportunities. I think he had 10 score involvements today.
“He’s tracking really well.”
Bolton finished his first RAC Derby with 21 disposals, 12 of them contested possessions, and an equal second-game-high 10 score involvements.
Fremantle's first win of the season sees the Club move up to 13th on the ladder, with a home game against the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in Round 4 locked in for Sunday 6 April.
