Senior coach Justin Longmuir doesn’t expect any Fremantle players to travel with their families to their hub on the Gold Coast, at least for Fremantle’s initial block of four games in Queensland.
There are four Fremantle fathers in the team in David Mundy, Michael Walters, Nathan Wilson and Taylin Duman.
Longmuir, who has two school-aged children, said the decision to bring family will be up to every individual player.
“The early signs are that we’ll go over as a team and just by ourselves,” Longmuir said.
“If (staying in the Gold Coast) drags out for a longer period of time than we expect, the families might come over at that period.”
Longmuir explained why his family would initially stay at home.
“My kids are in school and it’s going to be a massive disruption for them being stuck in a hotel on the other side of the country without any support and much going on,” Longmuir said.
“My wife’s very capable, she’ll be able to hold the fort while I’m away and if it drags out, we might get them over but at this stage, I’ll be going by myself.”
Longmuir said he empathised with Duman, who has a three-month old daughter.
“It’s a tough one, taking families to a resort where they can’t really do much, they’re better off in their own homes at times, at least that’s what I feel with my own family,” Longmuir said.
“Some have got really young families and not a lot of support being from the eastern states, so we’ve left it open to individuals to make that call.”
Fremantle’s round two clash against Brisbane is just over two weeks away and Longmuir was looking forward to the challenge.
“I’m really excited to play Brisbane in round two, they finished top-four last year so we get a good opportunity to play a really good side and see where we’re at,” Longmuir said.
