Justin Longmuir has rued Marcus Bontempelli’s overwhelming influence in Fremantle’s 67-point beating at the hands of the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, as well as addressing veteran star Nat Fyfe’s spot in his best 23.
Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli terrorised Fremantle’s onballers, recording 30 disposals, eight marks, 13 contested possessions, seven clearances, eight inside-50s and three goals, topped off by a perfect 10 coaches votes.
The unforeseen result consigned the Dockers to eighth on the ladder — just two premiership points ahead of four sides equal on 28 entering Round 15 — as they aim to stay a step ahead of the chasing pack.
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“The way we played was really frustrating. We didn’t execute the way we wanted to, and I think (Bontempelli) getting off the leash was a sign of us not valuing the right things in the game,” Longmuir told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Monday night.
“It was a pretty honest review today.”
Saturday represented Fremantle’s second meeting with the Bulldogs this season — after toppling the Dogs by 24 points at Optus Stadium in Round 7 — with Longmuir comparing aspects of his plan from that game to his side’s Round 14 encounter at Marvel Stadium.
“We had a similar plan to the one we had (in) Round 7 — we probably anticipated that he’d play forward a little bit more on the weekend, which he did, and we’d set Heath Chapman to help with the midfield handover in that sense, (but) that was pulled apart a little bit pre-game when he was a late withdrawal,” Longmuir said.
“I can cut some slack for certain areas of it, and not getting that forward bit right is one of those, but we just didn’t have the diligence (for) an application of that role in particular.
“But, like I said, it was one of a number of things that we didn’t value on the day, which hasn’t been a trademark of our game this year.”
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Herald Sun Chief Football Reporter Mark Robinson was curious about the Dockers players’ response to Longmuir’s Bontempelli instructions.
“Well, clearly, they didn’t respond well enough, and that reflects, firstly, on the way I coached that,” continued Longmuir.
“Clearly, (we) need to look at the way we educated that during the week (because) we weren’t able to get the message across on that specific role.
“There’s a balance between trying to stop someone’s influence and playing your own way. In Round 7, we had a really strong performance as a midfield group against the same (Bulldogs) midfield on the weekend. We knew they would change some things, but we didn’t really want to go away too much from what we did Round 7 — we wanted to back our midfield in.
“I’m not sure what’s been shown of the Bontempelli game, (but) some of the clips where he’s on his own — that we reviewed today — are unacceptable, whether we’re tagging him or not.
“I think we’ve had a really strong defensive brand across the season, (but) for whatever reason, that slipped on the weekend, and some roles around handling Bontempelli slipped — but our team defence was deplorable all across the ground in all phases and in all lines, so we’ve got some work to do to get that back on track.
“I’d say you don’t have to drop off too far (to be beaten really badly), especially against a (Bulldogs) side that was desperate to keep their season alive (and) desperate to respond from a poor (game) the week before.”
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Questioned about Fyfe’s form and his ongoing place in Fremantle’s best side, Longmuir was categorical.
“I’d say that the team will evolve from now until the end of the year,” he said.
“I think ‘Fyfey’ is an easy one to talk about when we lose. Last time we played he was our highest-rated player on the ground.
“I think his form has been solid this year — he’s had some really big highs, and his lows haven’t been that low, so he’s one that will hold his spot in the side.”
The 32-year-old had a season-high 32 disposals in Fremantle’s Round 7 win over the Dogs, averaging 21.1 for the season thus far. However, his 0.2 goals per game is presently a career low.
Longmuir did, however, guarantee impending changes to a side that fell by a season-worst 67 points.
“I’m not going to say that everyone’s going to hold their spot in the side, (because) there needs to be change after a game like we played,” he stated.
“Plus, we’ve still got some players in our team who are evolving, and we need to get games into (them) and look mainly at the front half for that and see the evolving nature of our key forwards and how they’ve been able to develop their game.”
Of their forward half, veteran goalkicker Michael Walters is set for “three-to-four weeks” on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring strain against the Dogs.
The 7-5-1 Dockers’ next four fixtures come against Gold Coast (Optus Stadium), Sydney (SCG), Richmond (Optus Stadium) and Hawthorn (UTAS Stadium), with the likes of the Bulldogs, Suns, Melbourne, the Hawks and Brisbane chasing hard for a finals seed.