Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir worried about Alex Pearce despite dominant win over Melbourne Demons

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has described his team’s clearance mauling of Melbourne on Sunday as the best football the team has played, but admits he’s nervous about captain Alex Pearce’s arm injury.

The Dockers cashed in on their ruck dominance with Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson giving the team first use against a Melbourne side that was missing Max Gawn. The Dockers won the clearances 47-15 and the match 17.14 (116) to 10.6 (66).

But the victory may have come at a cost with Pearce getting subbed out of the game in his return from a fractured arm. Pearce played with his left arm in a guard but winced following a contest in the third term and was subbed out of the match. He will have scans to determine the severity of the injury.

“He got a knock on that arm. It’s sore. The game was done so we thought we’d sub him off. He’ll have to get a scan and we’ll go from there,” Longmuir said.

“I’m nervous but we’ll see what the scan says. Drapes is in good form. He’s played a lot of footy. If he gets another opportunity, I’m sure he’ll be ready to take it.

“It was sore when he came off. It’s not as sore now. He’s probably a bit nervous and a little bit frustrated. He’d have liked to have got through the game. Being the captain of the club and being in such good form all year, he wants to be out there competing with his brothers. Fingers crossed he’ll be out there next week.”

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin admitted the club didn’t have anyone other than Gawn on the list capable of winning hit outs against Darcy and Jackson.

But Longmuir said the way his players exploited their advantage showed what they are capable of.

“I thought our first half was as good footy as we’ve played,” he said.

“We understood the injuries they’ve got and the holes that are in their team. But we’ve come up against that in the past and haven’t got it done. Hit outs and ruck dominance don’t always transfer to field position and clearance wins. We had some plans in place. We wanted to play a certain way and I thought the players executed it in the first half as well as we have all year.”

Despite the dominance, Longmuir expressed concern about the third quarter and said his team still needs to play with more consistency.

He said the decision to start Michael Walters instead of playing him as the sub only happened after scans revealed Matt Johnson had suffered a foot injury. Walters kicked four goals after Johnson was left out of the team with foot pain. He will be sidelined for several weeks in an attempt to avoid further damage.