Coach Justin Longmuir Pt 2

[The Round House Drunk]

My views on JL’s future based on next season:

Top 6 finish - extension well deserved
7th-8th finish - extension probably merited
Miss finals - gone

I think we’re far from certainties to make finals, especially in such an even competition.

I agree with others who don’t believe he should be extended prior to next season.

Basically, the jury is still out on JL in my view and 2025 is make or break time.

 

[freo1997]

We just hired a guy who came 2nd to him for the job and gave up some good picks in a deep draft for the factor/missing piece. No excuses from here, we may throw him another year but that won’t be enough to keep him if we miss finals. Even if we make finals and get blown away week 1 he will still probably get his marching orders.

Needs to win a final or 2.

 

[Moo]

Mid-season extension if warranted.

Couldn’t give 2 knobs of goat shit about media scrutiny…win games and that takes care of itself.

This list plays finals ….to be honest I’m not looking at just squeaking into 8 …we should get a favourable draw and to me our greatest weakness is kicking scores - 10th in scoring is not good enough.

The biggest change is we need is to our game plan….I think JLo and crew are capable and we’ll get natural growth from guys like Amiss & Johnson.

My great hope is that the impact of Bolton’s arrival will be far greater than just his input.

 

[pK75]

There’s already a trigger clause in his current contract, any media (or fan) speculating about where Freo need to finish to warrant an extension is moot as both JLo and the club have already signed on to what that is.

 

[oldgoat]

Thats exactly why i turned off him. He doesn’t have the required edge.

All "edged weapons" have an edge appropriate for their purpose...
You dont butcher a beast with a razor...
Weve got a lumberjack with an allday axe...
If you get my drift?
Winning a cup is like cutting down a really big tree??

 

[Perfect Purple]

Giving him another 1-year extension would cause more media scrutiny, not less. He’s done nothing to earn two extensions, two years in a row off the back of two disappointing seasons. How many free swings are we gonna give JL before we grow a backbone and become a more ruthless club?

The coach shouldn’t even be paying attention to what the media is saying about him, and those criticisms don’t suddenly go away regardless of his contract status.

The negative media focus is not only a distraction to the Coach but it’s potentially unsettling to players.

The players are all in on JL.

Regardless of whether the Coach can insulate himself from persistent speculation (over possible replacements) and rubbishing by the media, some of it must rub off negatively on everyone associated with the club.

 

[The Round House Drunk]

There’s already a trigger clause in his current contract, any media (or fan) speculating about where Freo need to finish to warrant an extension is moot as both JLo and the club have already signed on to what that is.

I agree with you, but perhaps the structure of the last extension is contributing to the current messy and uncertain situation.

I know that nobody on BF knows the details of the contract, but it seems somewhat logical to deduce that there would have been a trigger for another extension if we made finals in 2024.

That’s why missing finals was such a hammer blow. Not only did the playing group miss out on vital experience, but we go into another year in the same messy situation as the one before - the coach going into a season in the final year of his contract (as far as the media/public is aware).

If the contract has triggers based on 2025 performance, I don’t think that will help with the media speculation that the club will face going into next season.

 

[fnerd]

I feel like bare minimum is one win. Should be top 4 finish and a win.

Absolutely

The interesting part for me will be if make finals and lose
Or even more intriguing make top 4 but go out in straights sets

Will the board have the guts to still pull the trigger?
Especially after everything garlick and co have reiterated this off season?

A lot of variables in those scenarios to take into account but I fear a mediocre type finals appearance and he still likely survives … at which point the clubs is well on its way to Hinkley type situation, in fact probably worse tho cause I’m quite confident our list atm is tracking better and more complete than anything Kenny’s ever had at his disposal .

 

[88mph]

We just hired a guy who came 2nd to him for the job and gave up some good picks in a deep draft for the factor/missing piece. No excuses from here, we may throw him another year but that won’t be enough to keep him if we miss finals. Even if we make finals and get blown away week 1 he will still probably get his marching orders.

Needs to win a final or 2.

Who is the person we hired?

 

[CapitalA]

Who is the person we hired?

Jade Rawlings.

Fremantle coaching department update

Fremantle have confirmed the appointment of a new backline coach

www.fremantlefc.com.au

 

[88mph]

Jade Rawlings.

Fremantle coaching department update

Fremantle have confirmed the appointment of a new backline coach

www.fremantlefc.com.au

Is this the redundancy plan?

 

[freo1997]

Is this the redundancy plan?

Yeah probably. The narrative in the media and probably internally is no more excuses. Most are saying minimum Preliminary Final. That’s Kane Cornes narrative. In the past it’s always been the WA media alone putting the pressure on, but I’ve noticed the VIC media stacking it on especially after the Bolton trade.

 

[chaosball32]

The negative media focus is not only a distraction to the Coach but it’s potentially unsettling to players.

The players are all in on JL.

Regardless of whether the Coach can insulate himself from persistent speculation (over possible replacements) and rubbishing by the media, some of it must rub off negatively on everyone associated with the club.

You don’t know what the players think of him, and even if they are all in on him you don’t just keep re-signing an average coach who’s not getting the best out of the team just because the players like him.

The negative media focus is only there because we continue to underperform under JL, it’s not unwarranted. That’s part of the job, he knows that. This idea that we keep re-signing an underperforming coach just to shut the media up is flawed and not well thought through.

He was absolved of the pressure this year, it didn’t work. I’m happy to give him the full year and assess again at the end of the year based on performance, but another freebie extension before the season starts shouldn’t even be a consideration for a serious organisation.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Yeah probably. The narrative in the media and probably internally is no more excuses. Most are saying minimum Preliminary Final. That’s Kane Cornes narrative. In the past it’s always been the WA media alone putting the pressure on, but I’ve noticed the VIC media stacking it on especially after the Bolton trade.

Then, so be it !
Even David King is in the saddle.
The only feasible factor working against us being top four is the AFL’s strategy of ensuring there is no repetition of this years number of finals games being played interstate.
The fixture for next season could be a barefaced pisstake . Dillon will not stand for so few MCG finals ever again.

 

[88mph]

Let’s face it, Jlo has the best Freo list in history and one of the best in the league at the moment.

Anything less than a prelim and he needs to go. We can let the opportunity of a flag pass us by.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

So many different opinions on this and it’s healthy that we all have one but mine is the right one.

 

[wakojako]

JLo needs to implement a more chaotic and less controlled style now with the addition of Bolton. If you look at his highlights he is most lethal when the ball is being moved with pace.

 

[Dockers v Channel7West]

It would be a start that we don’t start every game 3 to 4 goals down halfway through the first quarter..

 

[DocT]

My views on JL’s future based on next season:

Top 6 finish - extension well deserved
7th-8th finish - extension probably merited
Miss finals - gone

I think we’re far from certainties to make finals, especially in such an even competition.

I agree with others who don’t believe he should be extended prior to next season.

Basically, the jury is still out on JL in my view and 2025 is make or break time.

If we want to have a decent shot at winning a premiership you're being too easy on Jlo and the team.
Finishing 7/8 means no finals win.
We need to do better than that.
Barring something unforseen then Top 6 is minimum required.
Top 4 would be a great finish indicating we are on track.
If we actually win the premiership then I am prepared to go out on a limb and suggest JLo will not get the boot.

 

[Freomaniac]

We aren't missing the top 8 with our list people. The issue is determining if our 'success' was because of the list or coaching. I guess that will depend on how deep we go into finals.

really?

We should of made finals in 2024.

Good list we got.

But we always have a chance of missing out on finals in 2025. We could have a horrible draw again.

 

[Hamann188]

really?

We should of made finals in 2024.

Good list we got.

But we always have a chance of missing out on finals in 2025. We could have a horrible draw again.

I believe, with our list, we are the horrible draw.

I might just be getting swept up in all the excitement, but I reckon it's time we start to think like, and believing, we are the anywhere/anytime team we have always wanted to be.

 

[Freomaniac]

Not sure how you’ve come to that conclusion. He verbatim says “If I was the club I would extend by a year just to get rid of that narrative. I just can’t see how they can’t have a good year.” Which I think is a ridiculous statement.



Strongly disagree, an extension shouldn’t even be considered until the end of the season. Extensions midway through the season aren’t a good idea, just ask Port fans. What happens if we have a similar season to this year, where we are top 4 midway through the year, extend JL, then crash out late and miss finals altogether again? Then we’ve re-signed a coach who’s made finals once in 6 years.

A top-6 finish, ideally top-4, and winning a final should be the minimum for JL to remain coach in 2026. I still argue that should have been the expectation this year.

Good point.

Remember when Brett Ratten was out of contract at the saints in 2022?

They gave him a 2 year extension in the middle of 2022 then still sacked him at the end of the season because saints didnt make finals.

 

[PeopleEater]

I think a lot should be determined on the character of the wins and if the team can get good consistency for me. Beating the Sydney’s and Brisbanes next year but losing to the west coasts / Norths of the world by 30 points, limping into the finals and scrounging a win doesn’t cut it.
The team is mature enough and importantly good enough for the right coach to elicit strong results against the whole comp now *(insert injury caveat). Maturing teams are consistent - I want to see that before an extension is considered.

 

[stax on the mull]

It's a long season. I guess the danger is people wanting a sacking if there's a less than 50/50 W/L start. Brisbane's 2024 start was 2W, 5L at Round 8.

 

[wakojako]

really?

We should of made finals in 2024.

Good list we got.

But we always have a chance of missing out on finals in 2025. We could have a horrible draw again.

I think I predicted 8th-10th in the presason because I wasnt convinced of our forwardline or list age/experience. I also got my prediction right the previous year when we finished 14th. If it's any consolation my prediction for next season is 2nd-5th. Main concern is we need Jackson and Fyfe's replacement (Johnson or Fyfe) to step up.