Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir changes from contracts to employment agreement beyond 2025 season

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir’s contract will be changed from a fixed term deal to an ongoing employment agreement when his deal expires at the end of the season.

Longmuir extended his contract last season to tie in with the club’s strategic plan and was set to enter 2025 with high expectations for the team and the pressure of not having a deal hanging over his head.

But the sixth-year coach, who now manages his own contracts, will become a full-time staff member with an ongoing employment agreement that doesn’t include a fixed set of years. The players were told the news this morning.

Carlton’s initial deal with coach Brendon Bolton in 2015 fell under the same terms before they later moved to putting him onto a fixed contract.

Dockers chief executive Simon Garlick said the move was a sign of the faith the club has in Longmuir and a desire to remove the pressures around contract deadlines.

“We are strongly invested in what we are building here at Fremantle and have high expectations on what we can achieve over the coming years,” Garlick said.

“Following a number of discussions with Justin, it was clear that those expectations we set ourselves is what drives our ambitions and standards, not the length of a contract.

“Justin has been building and leading an elite coaching program, and we believe this agreement complements our plans for him to lead us through a period of sustained contention and success.

“The pressure for the club to perform is always there, and leadership accountability will continue to come from regular performance evaluations and reviews that are central to our success.”

The Dockers’ strategic plan included the goal to win a premiership by the end of this season.

The club made the finals in 2022, dropped out of the eight in 2023 and was third on the ladder with four games remaining last season before plummeting to 10th.

Longmuir is embracing the challenge to lead the club to the promised land.

“It’s a privilege to lead this talented group,” Longmuir said.

“The external expectation for us to perform and deliver success over the coming years is high, as it should be, and the nature of my contract doesn’t change that.

“I believe the variation better reflects the mechanisms that should be in place for coaches to ensure we have an adequate layer of protection and security for ourselves and our families, and we get on with the job.

“I’m as driven as ever to see this group succeed, and as a club we are all ready to embrace the standards that can deliver the period of contention and success that the Freo family deserves.”