Many see it as a golden opportunity for Fremantle to reach just their second AFL grand final, but Justin Longmuir insists there is no chance the Dockers will underestimate a Sydney side missing a host of star players in Friday night’s preliminary final at the SCG.
Fremantle is set to enter the game as warm favourite, despite being away from home against a team which thrashed reigning premier Brisbane by 53 points in their qualifying final, with the Swans hard hit by suspension and injury.
When Sydney stood down Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice in the wake of the off-field scandal at a Melbourne hotel, Swans chairman Andrew Pridham said they had “effectively torpedoed” their season.
Remarkably since then, they have defied expectations, beating North Melbourne just days later before the stunning upset of the Lions.
That was despite losing Callum Mills during the game, with the captain joining the long list of absentees, ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
Longmuir has urged his side to put its full focus on the Sydney players who are taking the field, rather than those ruled out.
“Already done that. They dropped 141 points on Brisbane who were the flag favourites, it’s a wake-up call,” he said.
Errol Gulden and the Swans are undermanned but coming off a dominant qualifying final win. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
“They didn’t seem to miss those guys, so we just play what’s in front of us.Â
“Clearly they haven’t lost any of their scoring power, and all I can go on is what I see from the last two games, and playing like a really galvanised team, playing with great spirit, great physicality.
“It looks like whatever has happened has galvanised them, and they’re playing a really tough brand of footy.
“We’re definitely not going up there and getting ambushed by what they’re trying to do. We’ve seen [it] in the last couple of weeks and we’ve seen it work really well.
“We’ve got to make sure that we don’t just think it’s going to happen for us, we’ve got to make sure we impose our footy.”
Longmuir calls for no fear
The Dockers rebounded from their qualifying final loss to Hawthorn with a 14-point semifinal victory over Geelong, with Longmuir pleased with how his players took the contest on against the Cats.
Luke Jackson was instrumental in Fremantle’s semifinal win and shapes as a big factor against Sydney. (Getty Images: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos)
He urged his side to not to be afraid of making mistakes on the big stage, and to always be prepared to move on to the next contest.
“If we’re going to make mistakes, let’s make sure we make mistakes playing our way and playing with the right mindset, because usually those mistakes you can move on from a little bit quicker,” he said.
“At times we didn’t make those mistakes the right way against Hawthorn and we stood still after, because we didn’t move on from them.
“It’s been a message for a long time because we play such an imperfect game, players who have played their best games would’ve been full of mistakes. It’s just the nature and the scrappiness of our game, so let’s make them with the right mindset.”
The Dockers are set to fly to Sydney on Wednesday, with the two clubs naming their teams on Thursday ahead of the clash.
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