Fremantle head coach has spoken on the training returns of key trio Sean Darcy, Matt Taberner and the Dockers' dual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe, expressing that all three were tracking well.
Further foot and lower leg injuries kept Fyfe to just nine AFL appearances last season, and only 16 since the start of 2022. However, Longmuir expressed that Fyfe was "raring to go" ahead of the 32-year-old's 15th season in purple and white.
“(Fyfe's) tracking really well. Whether he's doing (match sim) on Saturday or Monday, we'll wait and see. He hasn't lost anything over Christmas and he's raring to go,” Longmuir told the media at Cockburn.
“We've just got to get his body right at the moment to build for match sim and get the minutes into him.
“If he can hit round 1 really fit, we will work out a plan from there, but (it's currently) one step at a time.”
Yet, while Longmuir would not be drawn into the expectations for Fyfe in 2024, the head coach claimed his superstar was likely to continue to dividing his time in the centre of the ground and ahead of the ball.
“We really want to publicly let him go about his business, not put too much expectation on him and not say he's locked down (anywhere) to play,” Longmuir added.
"We want to make sure he's in a comfortable position to be able to maximise each day and focus on getting his body and his game right."
“If he does that, we'll be able to use him wherever we need to use him.
“He's upskilling himself, mainly in the midfield at the moment, but we'd like to build in a bit of a secondary role for that, which is clearly down in forward.”
Despite inking a six-year agreement this summer to remain a Docker until the cessation of 2030, Darcy remains in a similar boat to Fyfe, with the lumbering ruckman currently working his way back from his own lower leg injury and subsequent ankle surgery.
And while said injury kept Darcy to just 15 games alongside his stoppage strike partner in Luke Jackson, Longmuir similarly pressed that the Victorian was certainly in the selection frame for the starting ruck role for Round 1.
“(Darcy's) going well. He's taking steps forward,” Longmuir said.
“It's probably been marginally slower than we would have liked, but he's definitely going forward with his rehab.
“We're fully confident he's on the right path and I think early Feb he'll join main training so we will build towards that.
“He's going through his rehab program and that encompasses a lot of things. Running is a big part of that and building a fitness base.
“Once he hits training, he'll take a bit of time to get his match fitness up, but we expect him to be really fit by then.
“We're confident he'll be there round 1. I haven't got the magnets out yet, but the plan is for Sean to be there (as) number one ruck.”
After April back surgery kept him to only four outings last season, veteran forward Matt Taberner was unable to forge much of an on-field partnership alongside young gun Jye Amiss.
Still, Longmuir made time to press the uncontracted 30-year-old's importance, stating how key Taberner was to the Dockers' forward structure.
“We really missed (Taberner) last year,” Longmuir said.
“It will be nice to have him fit, available and in good form.
“He's done a power of work prior to Christmas, and he very rarely missed a training drill.
“Now he's got to take a bit of time to get his form, running and leading patterns up to the standard they've been at previously because he's missed a lot of footy.”
Without a deal beyond the end of the year, Taberner, an impended unrestricted free agent, appears to have less job security than in previous campaigns.
But even with previous whispers that the Dockers were looking to bundle their pair of first-round picks to bring Swans key forward Logan McDonald back to Western Australia, Longmuir was keen to state that Taberner would have every chance of retaining his spot inside 50.
“Tabs is a proven reliable tall forward. He's been able to hit the scoreboard for us and play some really good footy for us,” Longmuir said.
“He's going to push really hard for a spot in the team and he's done a mountain of work to get to where he is at the moment so it's all positive for Tabs.
“Adding him to Luke Jackson, Josh Treacy, Jye Amiss and a few others, we're starting to have some competition for spots with our tall forwards as well.”
At present, Fremantle currently holds its own 2024 first-round selection as well as the rights to Port Adelaide's opening pick after sending a pair of future second-rounders to Alberton during the most recent trade period.
Longmuir and his Dockers will commence their 2024 campaign when they play host to Chris Fagan's Lions at Optus Stadium on Sunday, March 17.
