Fremantle’s trade period departures put senior coach Justin Longmuir under pressure in the early stages of the 2024 season, according to Fox Footy pundits, in what shapes as a defining year for the club.
Lachie Schultz and Liam Henry’s moves to Collingwood and St Kilda respectively continue a long list of key names to depart the Dockers in recent years that includes the likes of Blake Acres, Griffin Logue, Rory Lobb, Adam Cerra, Bradley Hill, Ed Langdon and Lachie Neale.
After a promising rise through a rebuilding phase under Longmuir since he first took the helm in 2020 — including guiding the Dockers to a near top four finish in 2022 — the club tumbled to a bottom five finish this season.
Therefore the exits of more senior players including Joel Hamling to Sydney and Schultz, who finished sixth in the club’s best and fairest this year and was its second-highest goalkicker, is a concern ahead of a crucial year where Freo will hope to bounce back.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s Trading Day, dual premiership Kangaroo David King suggested a slow start in 2024 could put Longmuir, whose contract expires at the end of next season, under the pump.
“It’s a worry going into a really important first phase of 2024, to lose some senior core players over the last two years,” King said on the program.
“They’ve lost four players in two years they can’t afford to lose at this stage.
“That puts them back a little bit in terms of their rebuild and regeneration of the list. As we keep saying, rebuild coaches don’t survive.
“This really puts the coach under the hammer in the first six to eight weeks next year.”
Following on from the trade period, the club has a lean hand in next month’s National Draft, with just picks 34 and 46 after trading its first-round pick to Melbourne in the Luke Jackson deal and moving its second-rounder to Port Adelaide as part of a pick swap.
Fremantle is however investing heavy stock in next year’s draft with a huge haul of picks — three first-round picks (two tied to Collingwood and Port Adelaide) and two second rounders.
But that’s after next season in what looms as a defining 12 months ahead.
This is a club that’s already gone to the draft in recent years to build its nucleus, led by Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Sean Darcy, Hayden Young and Jye Amiss.
If anything, the Dockers would want to be consolidating their list and rounding it out with pieces, not the other way around.
“Were OK, it’s never ideal to lose players, particularly good players. It’s definitely something we didn’t want — particularly losing Lachie and Liam,” Dockers list boss David Walls said on AFL Trade Radio.
“Once they made their decision, it was really about us swinging into action and just try and get the best result possible for the club and make the most of it.
“I feel with the hand we’ve got in, we’re really well set up for the 2024 draft, but also gives us options to get back in (to the 2023 draft).”
It makes next season even more intriguing as the club enters an uncertain new phase despite a view in recent years from the footy world that Fremantle was moving in the right direction.
