Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir admits his workforce hasn’t been capable of deal with the strain and expectation this season – however urged his gamers to not “wallow in self pity” after their 53-point loss to Carlton.
The Dockers’ season is on life help with seven video games remaining after they had been held goalless through the first and third quarters at Optus Stadium to lose 14.14 (98) to six.9 (45).
The strain to stay in contact with the eight was on each groups main into the match, with half a recreation separating them on the ladder and the Dockers sitting one win and share behind Essendon and Adelaide.
But Carlton set upon the Dockers each time they went close to the ball and the house workforce fell away. Having received a ultimate final 12 months, there have been excessive expectations on Fremantle, however they’re now 14th forward of a conflict in opposition to ladder-leading Collingwood on the MCG on Saturday.
Longmuir mentioned the workforce was struggling to again up their 2022 kind.
“Last year we had a really good season. With who we lost we got younger and we haven’t handled the pressure as well as we would have liked,” he mentioned.
“That feeds into those moments in games where a lot more is expected of everyone and we’re not living up to it.”
Fremantle dominated the hitouts as Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson took on part-time ruckmen, successful that battle 70-18, however Carlton received the clearances 42-35 and the contested possessions by 21.
The Blues laid 10 tackles inside 50 within the first quarter and it left the Dockers jumpy. Former Fremantle midfielder Adam Cerra was very good with 27 disposals, six clearances, six tackles and 10 inside 50s, whereas one other ex-Docker Blake Acres collected 23 possessions.
Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps additionally had huge video games as Carlton’s larger bodied midfielders managed the sport.
Longmuir admitted his workforce “got beaten up around the contest” and mentioned the third time period, the place Carlton kicked six unanswered targets, confirmed how a lot work the Dockers need to do.
“Definitely in that third quarter, we internalised,” he mentioned.
“We got stuck in our own heads. The scoreboard got out of control, the players would have been worrying about that, worrying about their own form and we just went away from any resemblance of a connected brand.
“We spoke about it after the game. You’ve got to fight through momentum as a team. You can’t fight through it individually. We tried to fight individual battles rather than connecting as a team.”
Longmuir promised to seek for enchancment by rewarding gamers who carry out nicely within the WAFL.
But he mentioned no person may afford to waste time worrying about what had occurred as a result of they should put together for the problem of taking part in Collingwood.
“Don’t wallow in your own self pity,” he mentioned.
“We’re all disappointed but we’ve got six days lead up to a great challenge.
“We need to get around each other, we need to help each other to get better and we need to bounce back.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
