David King has doubled down on his thoughts on Fremantle despite their upset Round 1 win over Brisbane at the Gabba.
Following the win, King and other media personalities were called out by Nathan Buckley who said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch that the “character assassination” around Longmuir must stop.
Buckley felt that Longmuir had been unfairly judged as a coach due to his personality traits in a negative way.
King took issue with those comments as he says his opinion that Fremantle played boring, safe and constrictive footy in the pre-season was purely a result of on-field play and had nothing to do with the coach’s character.
He also referenced a sponsored appearance with Nat Fyfe where the midfielder said that the club was now embracing chaotic footy.
King thinks that hearing that from such a key player shows that they were playing with the game plan that he criticised.
“I think you and I last week were taken to the cleaners by Nathan Buckley for the Justin Longmuir conversation,” King said SEN Breakfast.
“I just heard something during the week that was worth a conversation, I don’t think it’s a character assassination.
“Let’s just listen to Nathan Fyfe on the in-house Fremantle feed, ‘I think the game now is embracing the chaos a lot more. The stop, start, controlled ball use that we got used to over the last five or six years, I think we’re moving away from that a bit. All teams are embracing this sort of chaotic rolling, flowing, exciting game’.”
King also called out Fremantle for being far too slow to adapt to the modern game as most teams embraced a chaotic style during or shortly after Richmond’s dynasty.
“I reckon that was about four years ago,” King said.
“I reckon the game became chaotic four years ago.
“This is my point. This is what I keep saying and I’m only talking about what’s happening on the field.
“The game evolved when Richmond took it to a chaotic brand in 2017.
“Every other team has jumped on board since we’ve seen this season and last season go to new levels.
“We’ve seen GWS this year do it like crazy.”
Kane Cornes also refused to back down from his original Longmuir take that the coach doesn’t have the presence that other coaches naturally possess.
“In terms of the presence, I’ve been critical of Justin for lacking a presence and lacking action,” Cornes said.
“That's just an observation that I have, I think the best coaches have an aura about them and their ability to inspire.
“I know the game's evolved, and it changes all the time, but there's something about your character. You have to have the ability to inspire and urge your team on.
“I saw him last year move to the interchange bench and he was sitting at the back, and he wasn't engaging these players.
“I thought, ‘What are you doing there on the bench?’. Now he’s back in the box.
“There are some other coaches that I don't think quite have that presence, while there are others that if they walk into a room that instantly you can see it and you're drawn to it.
“I think that's a fair criticism … that was been my observation of Justin and I probably still stand by that.”
Longmuir last week signed a new contract extension until the end of the 2025 season.
Fremantle will hope to go 2-0 when they face North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
