AFL finals 2022: Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir lauds ‘maturity and guts’ in famous finals victory

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has heaped praise on his players for their mental strength, maturity and courage after they erased a 41-point deficit to beat the Western Bulldogs by 13 points in their elimination final and advance to the second week of September. Playing the club’s first final since 2015, the Dockers conceded the first six goals and didn’t register their first major until time-on of the second quarter. But they dominated from there, outscoring last season’s grand finalists 70-18 for the rest of the night. Fremantle had only four players with finals experience but won 11.7 (73) to 8.12 (60) in front of 58,982 raucous fans to set up an enthralling semi-final against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday. “It’s pretty special. The players were overwhelmed, really,” Longmuir said. “To do what we did tonight, it takes a lot of belief, it takes a lot of maturity and it takes a lot of guts. “We’ve been working on our mental skills for three years since I’ve been here for moments like this where you feel like you’re done but you stick to the task and you try and claw your way back into it. I’m so proud of the players. “You don’t come back from 41 points down without belief already there. They’ve got a lot of belief in our footy.” Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw were outstanding in the midfield and showed why they have led the team’s rebuild. Serong won 10 clearances among 33 disposals and also kicked a goal. Brayshaw collected 32 possessions and kicked one goal. The decision to select second gamer Jye Amiss also paid huge dividends as he kicked two goals, including the major which tied the scores in the final quarter. Longmuir has shown enormous faith in his young players since being appointed and said they had earned all of their success. “They’ve earned their positions and they’ve earned their opportunities to play in positions that impact the game,” he said. “They’ve benefited from being given the opportunity but they’ve also benefited from the hard work they’ve done. Caleb and Andy, to do what they did tonight, is a reflection of how hard they work on their craft, how hard they work on their fitness and how determined they are as footballers to be their best selves. “To be able to have games like they did on the big stage i a credit to their own work ethics.”