Analysis: Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir retains competitive advantage ahead of clash with the man he replaced, Ross Lyon

Round one has finally arrived. The appetite for AFL is as strong as it will be until September. And until the first ball is bounced, the premiership dream remains alive for all 18 clubs.

That rings especially true for the Dockers who are set to mount another charge at finals after finally returning to September last year.

But first up, Longmuir will face one of the more intriguing challenges of his coaching career. At Marvel Stadium on Sunday, he’ll have to face the man he replaced at the helm of Fremantle. With that comes an opportunity to show off just how far the Dockers have evolved in the past three seasons.

“He’s someone I respect in the coaching fraternity. For me, it’s like any other week,” Longmuir said of the impending tactical showdown.

Ross Lyon was known to toy with the media. Sometimes abrasive but often humorous, Lyon kept the media on their toes. We don’t quite have an equivalent Longmuir-isms as Justin is more measured.

But the one thing you could draw from Longmuir’s final press conference before round one is that he is not prepared to drop even a skerrick of information to his opposition. If there’s a competitive advantage to be had by keeping coy, the Dockers are exploiting it.

Have you settled on a forward line structure? Has Liam Henry locked in a wing spot? Which ruck looms as the best match-up for Rowan Marshall? Has Josh Treacy edged out Jye Amiss up forward?

Longmuir’s responses …

“We’ll find out this afternoon. We’ll wait and see. Not going to give too much away. We’ll wait for the teams to come out I reckon.”

While several other clubs have already plastered social media and endowed fans with news of debuts and recruits pulling on their new colours, Fremantle has remained largely silent.

Most, if not all of those selection queries will be answered on Thursday afternoon when the Dockers pick their first squad of 26 for the season. But Fremantle’s approach is symptomatic of a team that is leaving nothing to chance.

Here’s what we do know.

A squad of 26 trained in the main group and unless anything dramatic happens before Friday’s flight to Melbourne, they’ll be the 26 blokes in contention. That group included Henry, Nathan Wilson, Ethan Hughes, Hugh Davies and Sam Sturt. The rest trained separately with Peel Thunder coach Geoff Valentine.

Small forward Lachie Schultz could barely put any weight through his right leg after landing awkwardly on his ankle. He was helped to his feet and comforted by Nat Fyfe. After some running repairs, Schultz was able to return to training meaning he’ll be named but could the Dockers afford to leave him at home?

Jaeger O‘Meara trained unrestricted despite an ankle scare on Saturday. And Michael Walters will play restricted minutes for Peel as he continues his build back from an achilles injury.

To give Longmuir the final say: “Whatever team we put out I’m pretty confident we’ll be as fit as we can be, everyone will know their roles and we’ll be full of energy.”