Dockers won't swing axe after St Kilda horror show

Yahoo

07-05-2025

Fremantle won't swing the axe after their battering from St Kilda, with underfire coach Justin Longmuir saying the Dockers have "spread the burden of blame" over the demoralising loss.
Criticism has come from all corners after last Friday's 61-point thumping in Melbourne, where the Saints obliterated Fremantle at stoppages.
But with a tight turnaround to face second-placed Collingwood at Optus Stadium on Thursday night, wholesale changes aren't on the cards.
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"We're not going to wield the axe," Longmuir said.
"We've had a calm week internally, we've learned from Friday night, we've gotta put out a more consistent effort.
"But we can't get caught up in wielding the axe after a poor performance and everything being great after the Adelaide game.
"We just need to calm down a little bit and we need to make sure internally we're really consistent with our behaviours, we're really consistent with the way we approach things, and that in turn will help us become more consistent on the field."
Longmuir in particular has come under scrutiny, but was defended by vice-captain Caleb Serong this week.
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"I feel everyone's support inside the four walls," he said.
"What happens probably externally is the coach gets blamed for every poor performance, but realistically what happens internally is everyone takes ownership in their part in those performances.
"As a playing group, coaching group, assistant coaches, me, we've spread the burden of blame across the whole footy department for that performance on the weekend and owned our part and realistically that's the only way you get better.
"If you think it's all someone else's fault, you don't take ownership personally in yourself, well then you don't get better and learn from your performances."
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Longmuir insisted he didn't read external commentary around his job and had instructed his players not to either.
"After a performance like that on the weekend we don't need to batten down, and after a good performance against Adelaide we don't need to go over the top and celebrate too much," Longmuir said.
"We just need to make sure we lean in on our processes week in, week out, and that's what I've done this week.
"The difference is I've had 20-30 text messages checking in to make sure I'm going alright, which I really appreciate. But I don't sit around reading external noise."
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Neil Erasmus is poised to replace sidelined midfielder Hayden Young (hamstring).
Collingwood are without managed trio Jordan De Goey, Brayden Maynard and Scott Pendlebury, plus Brody Mihocek (abdominal strain).
Longmuir said he wouldn't use the Magpies resting players as motivation for his charges.