Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says the Dockers “haven’t spoken about finals” despite being two games away from a drought-breaking September campaign.

The Dockers are guaranteed to finish in the top eight for the first time since 2015 but Longmuir, who will lead the club to his maiden finals series as coach this year, insists his side’s sights are firmly placed on facing West Coast in western derby 55.

“Everyone is talking about finals. We haven’t spoken about finals,” Longmuir said.

“We don’t talk about this week being a prelude to the finals, we talk about this being the most important game of the year.

“That’s where our mindsets are and that’s what we need to go out and execute.

“We just talk about improving our footy and every individual improving their footy.

“We want to be in as good of form as you can when finals come around and by doing that it’s putting in the work during the week and making sure you play your best week-in, week-out.”

Asked if the hype around a derby would help his side prepare for September action, Longmuir admitted: “I don’t think it hurts.”

“It’s a derby, there’s always a big crowd,” he said. “A lot of our players have played in a lot of these games, we know what to expect.”

Dangerous forward Sam Switkowski is the only inclusion for Fremantle, replacing injured spearhead Matt Taberner (calf) after a nine-week lay-off with a back injury.

“We feel Sam is in our best 22, he’s really important to the way we play,” Longmuir said.

“We missed his pressure and we missed his team-first attitude. Everything he does is for the team.

“A lot of the things Sam brings to the team aren’t measured in stats.

“He’s a really important player to us and it’s good to have him back.”

Longmuir said Taberner “definitely won’t play next week” but Fremantle are set to be boosted by the return of skipper Nat Fyfe in round 23.

“He’s going to be available for selection next week,” Longmuir confirmed.

Following an emotional farewell game for Eagles spearhead Josh Kennedy, a potential final home game for David Mundy is expected to see similar scenes at Optus Stadium on Saturday

Longmuir joked he was “hoping for eight (goals)“ from the Fremantle veteran, who will play his 373rd AFL game and rise to outright ninth in the all-time AFL/VFL games record list.

“We want to make sure we send him out in the right way,” Longmuir said.

“We understand the significance of Dave’s influence on our club and he deserves to be sent out in the right way.”

West Coast coach Adam Simpson didn’t oversell the Eagles’ hopes of causing an upset, with the Dockers short-priced favourites to win their third-straight derby.

“We know where Freo are at, we know their path,” Simpson said.

“They’re in a good space and they’re fighting for top four, it’s Mundy’s last game and it’s a derby under their watch - so there’s a bit going against us.

“But it’s a great opportunity to play in front of a big crowd. See what kind of resolve we have.”

The Eagles will be without Kennedy (retired) and Tim Kelly (suspension), while Willie Rioli has remained in Darwin following his father’s funeral on Wednesday.

Rioli has yet to sign on with the club beyond 2022 but Simpson said there was never a concern that deal wouldn’t get done.

“I don’t think we were ever really too worried about that,” he said.

“He’s been dealing with a lot the past five weeks so we’ve respected Willie’s situation.

“Hopefully we get him back next week for Geelong, which is great, because he could have easily stayed up north for an extra week with his family.

“So I think he’s going to sacrifice a bit of that to come down and help us finish the year.”