Dockers coach Justin Longmuir says club needs to ‘own’ Blues loss as Sean Darcy set to return against Power

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said the team needed to “own our part” of Sunday’s controversial finish in which they coughed up two goals with 40 seconds remaining, following a touched mark and dissent decision against defender Jordan Clark.

“Clearly there was something said, and whether it was directed at the umpire or not, like I said post-game, we just need to get on with it,” Longmuir said.

“I don’t think Clarky was overly demonstrative on vision I have watched behind the goals in terms of pointing at the umpire – and he didn’t have both arms out – but clearly the umpire heard something he didn’t like.

“We just need to own our part of it now.

“To be honest, we just need to move on. We have got a big game coming up this week. If we just keep commenting on it, it is just going to follow us.”

The coach said Clark’s dissent didn’t cost the Dockers the game, rather their inability to kill the contest.

“In my eyes it didn’t cost us the game. We were behind at that stage and we had 40 seconds to maybe get back in front. But the damage was done as far as I was concerned,” Longmuir said.

He said he had wrapped his arms around Clark, who played a “really good game of footy”.

“One of the main messages I gave him was don’t let that one moment define his game,” Longmuir said.

“He played a really important role for us. We put a lot of planning into going into the game and he executed it really well.

“On the flip side of it he actually won a lot of footy for us as well. I was really happy with his game and I actually gave him coaches’ votes, so that shows how happy I was with his game.

“He not only played well on the weekend, he is in really good form for us.

“He will move on once it blows over and will go back to playing really good footy.”

He said comments from former AFL umpire Michael Pell who labelled Clark a “spoilt brat” was “disappointing”.

“It was unnecessary. People feel like they need to insert themselves into these sorts of things,” Longmuir said.

“Something that happened four years ago in the hub does not need to be brought up in this moment.

“I spend a lot of time around Clarky. I know him as a person, He is a great kid, a professional footballer who goes about his business.”

Meanwhile, Fremantle has asked the AFL umpiring department for clarity on the treatment of key forward Jye Amiss by the Carlton backline in last Sunday’s Gather Round defeat.

Justin Longmuir confirmed the club had sent “a few clips” to the AFL and sought an explanation on the treatment of their young forward.

Amiss kicked 1.1 from four disposals after being swamped by the Blues’ backline, with Jacob Weitering his main opponent, but others including Mitch McGovern playing key roles in curbing his output.

“Yeah, there are some moments there (where) we will look for clarity from the umpiring department,” Longmuir told ABC Radio’s Extra Time.

“That’s a work in progress. Jye is having impact still. He is a young forward, it’s his third year, he’s continuing to improve obviously, but we need to make sure we look after him.

“I think it was one of the main things that came out of the review was we didn’t quite execute as well as we would have liked forward of centre. We didn’t make the most of some of our good work up the field.

“Jye is a big part of that. Our forward line can function a little bit better, but we need to make sure we give them good supply as well.”

Sean Darcy is in line for a return from a knee injury for Saturday night’s road clash against Port Adelaide, but the ruckman still has a “couple of boxes to tick”.

“He still has to get through main training and he has got to pull up well. We are not there yet, but I think Jacko (Luke Jackson) is screaming out for Sean to come back and help him out, do a bit of the bullocking work,” Longmuir said.

“It might free Luke up to play some other roles where we think he can have some impact as well.

“He is not over the line yet, but he is going to be back over the next couple of weeks so we look forward to his return.”

Longmuir said they would put a lot of work into Port Adelaide’s in-form midfield trio of Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis ahead of the blockbuster clash.

“Their main weapon in there is they are dynamic and their work to get the ball from inside to out is special,” Longmuir said.

“They have got a really good forward line and have recruited really well with their backs, their tall backs, being able to help Aliir Aliir so we will need to go to work.

“It is going to be a great challenge and one that I think we are really read for and one that I think we are up to.”