Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir keen to take on Collingwood and their army of fans at MCG

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has described playing Collingwood at the MCG as the biggest challenge in footy as his team prepares to take on the ladder leaders on Sunday.

The eighth placed Dockers will fly to Melbourne full of confidence after fighting back from 13 points down at three quarter time to beat Hawthorn by 13 points at Optus Stadium on Saturday to give them seven wins from their last eight matches.

But Fremantle also know they haven’t won in Victoria since May last year. They’ve lost their last five games in Victoria including this matches this season.

Collingwood lost to Gold Coast on Friday night but are still six points clear on top of the ladder. They also have an imposing record against non-Victorian teams at the MCG, winning 18 of their last 20 clashes.

Longmuir said everyone understood Sunday’s game would be tough.

“It’s the biggest challenge in footy... You got not only to take on Collingwood who are the best team in the comp, but you go to take on the Magpie army. It’s a great challenge for us,” he said.

The Dockers are hoping to get captain Alex Pearce back from injury but Collingwood rested Brody Mihocek and Patrick Lipinski against Gold Coast, then played veteran Scott Pendlebury as the sub.

The Magpies have the luxury of managing their list after opening up a clear gap on the rest of the competition, but Fremantle are one of five teams on 11 wins and have the Western Bulldogs snapping at their heels in ninth spot with 10 wins.

The Dockers replaced the Bulldogs in the eight last weekend.

Longmuir said every game for the rest of the season would have huge ramifications for their finals dreams.

“The importance of each game is magnified now, clearly,” he said.

“The media is talking about it. It’s in our face all the time.

“I thought that was a really strong, contested game (against Hawthorn). We’ve got to make sure we keep handling it the right way.

“Every game from here to the end of the season has got to mean a lot. We’ve just got to make sure we prepare really well.

“But also don’t get too tense under that pressure, make sure we play with freedom, make sure we keep trusting ourselves and try to play our way.

“I know they’ve got a lot of confidence and if we can execute the way we play, we can beat anyone.”