The cook-up at Sean Darcy’s home was probably the most talked about barbecue in Perth over the previous week, however Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir remains to be searching for his invite.
The Dockers’ dire 0-2 begin to the season has resulted in some soul-searching among the many participant group main as much as Sunday’s western derby towards West Coast.
A day after Fremantle misplaced to North Melbourne by a single level final Saturday, Darcy hosted a staff barbecue at his home.
The get-together gave the gamers the proper probability to bond and replicate on latest occasions, and Fremantle hope it is going to lead to a significantly better show within the western derby.
Longmuir has been a person underneath stress this season.
He’s needed to defend Luke Jackson’s kind, discover a repair to the membership’s misfiring ahead line, and likewise resolve the membership’s midfield woes.
So when the prospect got here as much as have a little bit of a light-hearted second with the media within the lead-up to Sunday’s derby, Longmuir took it with each palms.
“No I didn’t (get an invite), I was a bit flat on that,” Longmuir mentioned with a wry smile when requested about Darcy’s barbecue.
“A lot’s been made of that barbecue. Our players have caught up all pre-season, they caught up all last year.
“They hang out together in their down time. I think it’s a good thing.
“I don’t think it was anything out of the ordinary having a barbecue at Sean’s house, apart from the lack of an invite.”
Longmuir has reacted to the back-to-back losses by axing midfielder Will Brodie.
Ruckman/ahead Jackson is ready to spend stints on-ball as a big-bodied midfielder to assist in giving the Dockers some spark, whereas ahead Sam Switkowski might be a part of him within the center.
Fremantle’s stagnant ball motion has been broadly panned over the previous two weeks, however Longmuir doesn’t really feel just like the staff is way away from discovering solutions.
“In short, we’ve been getting the ball inside 50 enough. We need to make more of that,” Longmuir mentioned.
“And if we can get some stoppage going our way, I think it will contribute to a better brand of footy.”
Dockers midfielder Matthew Johnson will make his AFL debut because the tactical sub, whereas the inclusions of Nathan O’Driscoll and Michael Walters into the 22 will add additional pleasure and X-factor.
West Coast are aiming to construct on the run-and-gun sport model that helped propel them to a 19-point win over GWS final week.
The Eagles’ capacity to win the competition and the stoppages battle proved essential, with coach Adam Simpson difficult his gamers to breed that kind.
West Coast defender Tom Barrass has endured a tricky begin to the season, with North Melbourne’s Nick Larkey booting six objectives on him in spherical one, and GWS spearhead Jesse Hogan returning 3.4 final week.
Simpson is assured Barrass will regain his scorching kind from final season quickly.
“He’s a bit rusty at the moment. He’s working really hard on his craft, being a really good defender,” Simpson mentioned.
“A bit of it is supply, a bit of it is just getting into the rhythm, back working with Gov (Jeremy McGovern) and the rest of the backs.
“We’re not too worried about that.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
