Justin Longmuir has been appointed as Ross Lyon’s replacement at Fremantle.
After the club fired Lyon with one game remaining in the regular season, a subcommittee made up of club directors Peter Mann and Sue Murphy, board member Peter Mann and former player Luke McPharlin was formed.
Longmuir beat out current Fremantle assistant Peter Sumich and Gold Coast assistant Dean Solomon for the job and was given a three-year contract.
Fremantle President Dale Alcock says that Longmuir will be a breath of fresh air for a club that had a largely stagnant 2019.
“With the reinvigoration and enthusiasm Justin will bring to the playing group combined with a fit and available list, we will head into the 2020 season without any limit on what is possible.”
Longmuir, who played 139 games for the Dockers after being selected No. 2 in the 1998 draft and is the first Western Australian to coach the club since foundation coach Gerard Neesham.
As a player, Longmuir’s career was cut short by a knee injury that saw him play only 18 games in his final two years. He retired from playing after the 2007 AFL season.
“I left the club knowing there was unfinished business here and I’ve returned determined to repay the faith that the club has again shown in me,’” Longmuir said after getting the job.
At just 38 years of age, Longmuir is one of the youngest coaches in the league, however, he has over a decade of coaching to his name after stints with West Coast and Collingwood.
As Nathan Buckley’s defensive coach for the past two years, Longmuir is praised by many for building the Magpies now touted defence.
