Fremantle now has a second minor premiership to add to its empty trophy cabinet.
The Dockers bounced back to form with a four-goal victory over a top-four hungry Adelaide at Optus Stadium on Friday night.
It is an important milestone for the club as it guarantees the Dockers a home qualifying final in three weeks' time, but it is a meaningless title for a team dog-hungry to break a 32-year drought and bring home a maiden premiership.
That dog-hungry nature has been a problem for Fremantle players and its fans in the past, simply wanting it too much and becoming too up and down in reactions to moments, games or patches of form.
The Flagmantle period of time highlights that perfectly.
Understandably, any stakeholder in Fremantle wants to breakthrough for that inaugural flag, but the club's ability to commit 'Dockery' by shooting itself in the foot on many occasions is well known.
And that is why Justin Longmuir's influence on this group is the reason Fremantle is finally not only a contender but a premiership favourite.
Often labelled boring, not engaging or even unwatchable in his press conferences or interviews, it turns out that might actually be the secret to Longmuir's brilliance.
When everything is going great for Fremantle, Longmuir is monotone and calm.
When everything is going terribly for Fremantle, Longmuir is monotone and calm.
The Dockers have always been a passionate club whose fans and players can see-saw violently in emotions within minutes.
To quote former Greek soccer manager Gennaro Gattuso, Fremantle even in its peak seasons were, "Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe s***."
But in 2026, even when the Dockers have been down, missing targets, slicing repeated shots at goal or under intense pressure, the players have responded in a calm and monotone manner. Always.
This composed and unfrazzled nature is directly led by the coach, who after seven seasons in charge is producing his best year yet at the helm.
And to achieve something Fremantle has never done before, the club has to be something it has never been before: calm in the face of pressure and possible success.
With Longmuir leading the way, perhaps this calm and monotone Fremantle will make history as the first in purple and white to climb the AFL's highest mountain.
