Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd says Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir in ‘fight’ for coaching career

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 23: Shai Bolton of the Dockers looks on after being defeated during the round two AFL match between Fremantle Dockers and Sydney Swans at Perth Stadium, on March 23, 2025, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images via AFL Photos)

Matthew Lloyd, the champion of Essendon, has stated that Justin Longmuir is battling for more than just Fremantles’ premiership dreams in the upcoming month. This statement brings to light the possibility that the fifth-year coach’s future could be compromised. As the harbour club entered its 2025 season, the Dockers, on paper, had all the ingredients for a deep September run after acquiring Tigers premiership star Shai Bolton through a trade. This was the most level of optimism that the harbour club had ever experienced. But their start to the season has been less than brilliant, despite having been damaged by a swath of injuries to key people. then suffered a terrifying 78-point flogging to Geelong in the season opener, and then suffered a three-point heartbreaker against Sydney at home on Sunday. For the Dockers, this results in a six-game losing streak that dates back to the final four matches of 2024, which caused them to fall from being a contender for the top four to not even making it to the finals at all. The Eagles are now sitting only a percentage off the bottom of the table as a result of their round one matchup with Gold Coast, which resulted in Fremantle losing by 87 points. Fremantle now enters an all-important derby against their bitter cross-town rivals, West Coast. Fremantle needs a win just to get their campaign started. According to Lloyd, who was speaking on AFL Access, “He is in a fight for his coaching career.” This week, they are playing the derby, which is the most important game in Western Australia. There is no other comparable game. Justin Longmuir has everything at his disposal, and he included Shai Bolton, who is, in my opinion, the best recruit of the year. He has everything at his disposal. I believe that there is still something that is not quite right there with the handbrake still appearing to be on. Fremantle did miss opportunities and could have won the game where Voss wasted some opportunities, but I think that there is still something that happens. “They are not getting the results that they should be getting, and my bold assumption is that he will be fighting for his career over the course of the next month at the Fremantle Dockers.” Moreover, Fremantle has been defeated by a margin of twenty points or fewer in five of their last six games. In comparison to their first two matches, the Dockers will have a significantly less difficult four-round stretch. In the next two weeks, they will play West Coast and the Western Bulldogs at home. After that, they will play Richmond in the Barossa Valley for Gather Round, and then they will travel to the MCG to play struggling Melbourne.