Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Justin Longmuir has backed his team’s strong wet-weather record to continue as the Dockers brace for the impact of Cyclone Narelle on Saturday’s clash with Richmond at Optus Stadium.
And the Fremantle coach has confirmed defender Brennan Cox will be selected for the first time this season, pending no setbacks in Thursday’s closed session, as his team edges closer to a full-strength line-up.
Prior to last season, the Dockers had regularly slipped up in inclement conditions, but they became wet-weather specialists in 2025. Freo won five of their six games in damp conditions, with the line exception their one-point defeat in the elimination final.
“We spoke about wet weather with the players. We thought we were good in the wet last year, so we revisited a couple of those things that we did in the wet last year, which made us really competitive in those games,” Longmuir said.
“Sometimes you wonder how early to go with that messaging, because it can be a bit unpredictable the forecast, but it looks like we’re going to get a fair does of rain so we’ve gone a bit earlier this year.”
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting as much as 40mm of rain on Friday and up to 20mm for game day on Saturday.
The Dockers trained with slippery, soaked balls on Thursday and practiced handling. When asked if the conditions would influence selection, Longmuir said: “Sometimes there’s more stoppages in the wet… but probably not.”
Luke Jackson was a standout in wet conditions last year, amassing 22 coaches’ votes across Fremantle’s five rain-impacted clashes in the home-and-away campaign. Fellow engine-room stars Caleb Serong (19 votes) and Andrew Brayshaw (17) also good drivers in poor conditions.
Longmuir said the team would be unlikely to change its two-ruck strategy despite the Tigers losing their No. 1 big man Toby Nankervis to a hamstring injury.
“My gut feel is no. We play two rucks. Sometimes you get a lot more stoppages, repeat stoppages, in the wet, so the rucks actually become more important,” he said.
“We will lean on the structure that we normally play with. That has held us in good stead.”
The Tigers have also lost premiership pair Tom Lynch and Nathan Broad to hamstring and calf complaints, resulting in the visitors being considered a $11 outsider with bookmakers, but Longmuir said they wouldn’t underestimate their opposition.
“Obviously they are important players they have lost, but they have still got some real quality, especially through the middle of the ground,” Longmuir said.
“They’ve been really tough through the middle of the field, with their ability to win ground ball. They are the number one team at ground-ball pre-clearance, and then their ability to test the tackle with (Tim) Taranto and (Jacob) Hopper, those types and they are really good over ground ball,” he said.
“We we understand that we’re going to be in a contest a lot, conditions are going to play into that as well. We’re expecting a team that’s looking to build into their season and were really competitive up until they lost those couple of players last week.”
Cox is in line to replace Oscar McDonald after missing the opening two matches of the season with a calf injury.
“He got through training really well on Tuesday. Feels really good. So yeah, we want to get him going and getting him into the season,” Longmuir said.
Fellow defender Brandon Walker, a late withdrawal from last week’s win over Melbourne, was “touch and go”, according to the coach.
Longmuir said he hoped under-fire forward Patrick Voss maintained an edge to his game after a tough week.
Voss was in the spotlight after he rubbed Melbourne defender Harrison Petty’s hair and made a a ‘cry-baby’ expression towards him.
He was fined $1000, with the AFL rushing in a rule to curb taunting, with a player rubbing an opponent’s hair now resulting in a free kick for high contact.
“A lot gets made of these isolated situations and I’m not going to comment on what gets made of it but he gets a lot right,” Longmuir said.
“He has his teammates’ back. He put his team first. During the week, we can’t fault his intent to work on his game and all those types of things.
“We’ve got to make sure he treads the right side of the line and by his own admission, he got it wrong at quarter-time last week.
“He’s 22 years of age. He’s played 28 games. He’s gonna make some mistakes along the way, like all our players do.
“It’s how you grow from those and learn lessons out of those mistakes that I worry about so I’m fully supportive of him and will keep backing him in.”
