Longmuir’s Cynical Act: Even Freo Fans Cop AFL’s Slow Play
Justin Longmuir came out this week and used the word ‘cynical’ about how the AFL handled the Lachie Neale business, and fair dinkum, over here in the west we nearly fell off our chairs laughing because it’s exactly what half of us have been saying about the competition for about the last twenty years. Welcome to the club, Freo, grab a stubby.
For those who missed it, Neale copped a report, the footy world spent the best part of a week chewing it over on every podcast and radio segment going, and then, lo and behold, right before it actually mattered, the reprieve came through. Longmuir’s point wasn’t that the outcome was wrong necessarily – it’s that the timing stunk, and stunk in a way that felt awfully convenient for the schedule rather than for natural justice.
Why ‘cynical’ is exactly the right word
I reckon Longmuir chose his word carefully. He’s not out here calling the MRO corrupt or suggesting anyone fixed anything, don’t get me wrong, that’s not what’s being said and it shouldn’t be inferred. What he IS saying, and what plenty of us reckon too, is that the process felt slow, clunky, and dragged out for reasons that had nothing to do with getting the decision right and everything to do with the machinery of the AFL grinding along at its own pace, regardless of what a club and a player are going through emotionally in the meantime.
Imagine being Neale, or any player in that situation, sitting there for days not knowing whether you’re free to play the game you love this weekend. That’s not fair on anyone, whichever colours you wear. You could argue the AFL has plenty of time to sort these things out well before the pointy end of the week, and when it doesn’t, clubs and fans are entitled to ask why.
Over here in the west, we know this feeling well
Now look, I’m an Eagles man through and through, and I’m not about to start crying a river for Fremantle. But I’ll give credit where it’s due – Longmuir’s frustration is one that resonates right across WA footy, both clubs included. We’ve copped the short straw on travel, on fixturing, on prime time slots, on everything that isn’t strictly about who kicked the most goals on the day. So when a WA coach stands up and says the AFL’s process felt cynical and slow, over here we’re nodding along like it’s gospel.
It doesn’t matter if you bleed purple or blue and gold in this state, there’s a shared sense that decisions affecting the west often come a beat later, get less urgency, and cop less scrutiny than they would if it was happening in Melbourne on a Tuesday arvo with three commentators standing by ready to dissect it live. That’s not me having a sook, it’s just the lived experience of footy from this side of the Nullarbor.
The timing question the AFL needs to answer
Here’s the bit that actually matters for the integrity of the whole process. If a player is going to be cleared, or offered a downgrade, or have his case resolved in his favour, why on earth does that take until the tail end of the week when the charge was laid days earlier? The AFL has a Tribunal system, it has an MRO framework, and it has, in theory, enough resources to turn these things around quickly. When it doesn’t, the natural conclusion plenty of fans jump to is that outcomes get shaped, consciously or not, by what suits the broadcast schedule or the big Friday night blockbuster rather than by getting the call right as soon as possible.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting anyone at AFL House sat on the Neale decision deliberately to build hype or protect a marquee matchup – that’s a serious allegation and there’s no evidence of it. But it raised eyebrows, and Longmuir’s comments this week only add fuel to a debate that’s been simmering for ages: is the process built for accuracy, or is it built for drama?
What this means for Freo heading into the weekend
Practically speaking, once the reprieve landed, Fremantle could breathe again and get on with normal preparation, but you’d reckon that week of uncertainty wasn’t exactly ideal for a midfield brigade that relies heavily on Neale to set the tone through the guts. Any coach worth his salt wants clarity early so the game plan can be locked in, the leadership group can settle, and the bloke himself isn’t spending training sessions with one eye on his phone waiting for a verdict.
Longmuir’s comments also serve a bit of a dual purpose here, if you ask me. Sure, he’s genuinely frustrated on behalf of his player and his club. But he’s also subtly putting the competition on notice that these delays get noticed, get talked about, and erode a bit of trust in the fairness of the whole show. Good on him for saying it out loud instead of just copping it quietly like clubs are so often expected to.
A wider footy problem, not just a Freo one
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a tribunal or MRO matter drag on longer than it should, and it won’t be the last. Every club in the competiton has had a version of this at some point – the anxious wait, the media speculation, the eventual outcome that either vindicates or infuriates depending which colours you’re wearing. The difference this time is a WA coach called it out bluntly, using a word with a bit of bite to it, and that’s worth applauding regardless of who he coaches.
If the AFL wants to avoid these kinds of headlines, the fix isn’t complicated: speed up the turnaround, be transparent about why a case takes as long as it does, and stop leaving clubs and players hanging when a quicker resolution is clearly possible. Do that, and coaches like Longmuir won’t have any reason to reach for words like cynical in the first place.
The bottom line
Love him or not, Longmuir said what a lot of footy people were already thinking, and he said it without making wild claims or pointing fingers at anyone’s integrity. That’s the right way to hold the AFL to account. Over here in the west we’ll keep watching how these things get handled, because if there’s one thing WA footy fans are experts in, it’s noticing when the competition takes its sweet time getting to us.
