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Fremantle General Manager Joe Brierty says extending coach Justin Longmuir’s contract will provide the club with further clarity over the next two seasons.
Yesterday, the Dockers announced Longmuir had signed a one-year contract extension, taking him to the end of the 2025 season and ending any speculation surrounding his future.
Longmuir is entering his fifth year as head coach, with expectations to take Fremantle back to finals after dropping out and finishing 14th in 2023.
Speaking to SportFM, Brierty says the signing provides the club with clarity and direction.
“These discussions have been ongoing for a long time,” he said.
“They're things that we’ve worked through with myself and Simon [Garlick] and Chris [Sutherland], our new president and then Justin to talk through what it looks like and the best approach.”
“Ultimately, it's landed just upon the season so for us it gives us real clarity for the next two seasons and the direction we're taking and the strategy we're implementing and we're excited about that.”
Since starting at Fremantle in 2020, Longmuir has a 50 per cent win-loss record, with 41 wins and a draw to his name. Additionally, he took the Dockers to a semi-final in 2022.
With an elusive maiden flag still insights of the club, Brierty says Justin has been given ‘utmost clarity’ of what he needs to do to continue beyond 2025.
“Justin and I have a really strong relationship in that sense and have really strong dialogue with Chris and Simon,” he said.
“We're really clear on the strategy that we're looking to set out over the next couple of years and what that looks like and continues to improve it on the field.
“I think he's just really excited about having the clarity that sets him up for the implementation of the system and where we want to go about it for the next two years. probably
“From how players responded yesterday, the group and the football program, are just excited to see him lead us.”
At the end of 2021, Fremantle announced an ambitious 5-year plan to bring the club premiership success.
This plan included setting the groundwork for a maiden AFL and AFLW flag before 2025 and reaching 80,000 members, with an average of 50,000 fans at home games.
Brierty says Fremantle ‘won’t apologise’ for setting high expectations on the players and football programs
“We're still inside the planning of the club and the direction that we're taking in both programs,” he said.
“When you look at these things five years down the track, there are a lot of things that happened along the way in player movement and how your list develops but we won't apologise for setting high expectations and standards on our players and staff and football program.
“We've made some changes in our football program at the end of 2023 to realign and make sure that we're resourcing it the correct way and setting everyone up for success.
“We'll continue to do that year on year to make sure that we're setting ourselves up to really be in the best possible position onfield. That's our primacy as a business and I would expect our members and fans would expect the same thing from us.”
IMAGE: Code Sports