Dockers coach warns against underestimating weakened Swans ahead of clash

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is urging his players to again embrace imperfection as the Dockers vow to avoid a Sydney ambush in Friday night’s preliminary final at the SCG.

The Dockers regained their mojo last week with a 14-point semi-final win over Geelong, with their willingness to take on the tackler and play with freedom proving decisive.

It was in stark contrast to a week earlier, when Fremantle players looked panicked at times and fearful of making mistakes in a 32-point qualifying final loss to Hawthorn.

For Longmuir, there is a certain beauty in imperfection – as long as the team is playing with the right mindset.

“We play such an imperfect game,” Longmuir said on Tuesday.

“At our best, we’ll turn the ball over 25 per cent of the time in a game. At our best, we’ll turn the ball over by hands 20 per cent of the time.

“If we’re going to make mistakes, let’s make sure we make mistakes playing our way and playing with the right mindset, because usually those mistakes you can move on from a little bit quicker.

“It’s been a message for a long time. The players who have played their best games would have been full of mistakes.

“It’s just the nature and the scrappiness of our game, so let’s make them with the right mindset, and I think we did that on the weekend.”

Sydney will enter the match without suspended quintet Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon.

On top of that, Sydney skipper Callum Mills will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL.

But Longmuir is wary of what the weakened Swans can produce after watching them destroy Brisbane to the tune of 53 points in the qualifying final.

That result came after Sydney beat North Melbourne by 53 points in the first match following the suspension of the “Pullman Five”.

“They dropped 141 points on Brisbane, who were the flag favourites. It was a wake-up call, right? They didn’t seem to miss those guys,” Longmuir said.

“It looks like whatever just happened has galvanised them, and they’ve found a really tough brand of footy.

“They’ve been hunting the opposition. They’ve been playing a physical brand footy, and we expect the same brand.

“We’re definitely not going up there and getting ambushed by what they’re trying to do.”

Longmuir said there would be “radio silence” with Matthew Pavlich this week, given the Fremantle legend is now chief executive of Sydney.

The two biggest selection calls Longmuir faces in the lead-up to Friday’s game surround defenders Brennan Cox and Brandon Walker.

Cox hasn’t played since injuring his calf in the final-round clash with Carlton, and Walker rolled his ankle against Hawthorn a fortnight ago.

Both trained on Tuesday, but face an uphill battle to earn a recall in a winning side.

Ruckman Sean Darcy has recovered from a knock to the knee and is set to line up for Peel Thunder in Sunday’s WAFL grand final against Claremont.

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