Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is not getting caught up in the potential to break the club's winning streak, while pointing to a group of players that have propelled the strong form.
The Dockers equalled their record winning streak of nine with their dismantling of Essendon on Sunday and will face St Kilda off a five-day break to win 10 in a row for the first time in the club's history.
While much has been made of Fremantle's extent of top-end talent – led by Andrew Brayshaw, Josh Treacy, Shai Bolton, Hayden Young, Caleb Serong and Alex Pearce – Longmuir highlighted the sharp rise in contribution from the fringe players which has consistently given his side the edge.
“When we've had players injured, others have come in and played their roles,” Longmuir said.
“That's all we ask of players: come in and execute their role and people talk about the top end talent and how well they're going but it has been players who have come in and played roles or grown their games: guys like Karl Worner, Corey Wagner, Neil Erasmus, (Matthew Johnson), (Isaiah Dudley), Chris came in on the weekend and played his role, Oscar came in on the weekend and played his role, it's those guys whose improvement has taken our game to another level.”
Since back-to-back losses in Round 8 and 9 last year, the Dockers have a 21-4 record. Longmuir stopped short of calling it a turning point for the club, but there has been greater consistency in form – though the coach still believes there is another level to go.
“We've got some areas in all phases of our game we'd like to get better at and tidy up and seek improvement. Overall, it's our consistency and being able to do it for longer,” Longmuir said.
“We're never going to control a game of footy for four quarters, it's just not going to happen often in modern footy because it's more open and offensive so the opposition will have offensive swings so it's able to lean in and play our way during those moments and minimise those moments.”
Corey Wagner and Jaeger O'Meara are both a test to play if they get through training, while Isaiah Dudley is also a watch after a corkie against the Bombers.
Despite sitting equal top of the ladder with Sydney, Longmuir does not believe his side is the competition's benchmark.
“We're not the best team out there. We're not the best team in it. We've got work to do on our consistency,” Longmuir said.
“Our best footy is as good as anyone, it's just a matter of searching for a bit more consistency with it. And it's a challenge: you don't want to be peaking at Round 10 or 11. We're still building and will continue to do so.”
