Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has swatted away Collingwood coach Craig McRae’s backhanded compliment following the Dockers’ thrilling one-point win at the weekend.

The Dockers overcame the Pies after hanging tough for the first three quarters to overcome a 22-point defence early in the fourth quarter to charge to a memorable one-point win.

Speaking post-game, McRae was clearly displeased with his side’s collapse but instead chose to take a shot at his opposite number.

“They play a good brand of footy when they’re up and going fast,” he said with a wry smile.

“Maybe they should play a bit more of that, at times it’s a good version of them.”

It sparked plenty of anger amongst fans who labelled McRae a sore loser; however, Longmuir would not be baited into a war of words.

“It’s interesting,” he said on Seven.

“Every coach has got a right to approach a press conference any way they want. My style is more about talking about our game and the way we play.

“But everyone has the right to talk how they want.”

Longmuir said it was up to the opposition to try and stop the Dockers’ running game, which the Pies failed to do in the last quarter.

“I think every team would love to slingshot off half back, but there’s a lot of work that goes into how you move the ball,” he said.

“On the weekend, we were under pressure when we won the ball back in our D50, we got better field position in that last quarter, their pressure dropped off a little bit, and we were able to move the ball better.

“In the end, there are two teams out there, one is trying to defend ball movement, and the other is trying to create it

“Sometimes the defence has the upper hand as they did in the first three quarters, and we probably flipped it in the last quarter.”

Their victory over ladder-leading Collingwood was their first win over the Pies since 2020, while it was their first victory in Victoria since May last year.

Longmuir said the win could prove invaluable for his side’s confidence heading into what could be their first finals series since 2022.

“I’m really proud of the way we fought throughout the game. I thought our backs held up really well under field position pressure, particularly through those first three quarters,” he said.

“Then we were able to get the game on our terms and run over the top of them.

“It should instil a lot of belief in our system and the way we play, and that we can go anywhere and play anyone.”

Hayden Young was influential in the Dockers’ final quarter comeback after coming on as the sub in his return from injury, with Longmuir confident he will start in this weekend’s derby.

“We still have to build his game time clearly, but I imagine he’ll come into the side,” he said.

“He’s still on managed minutes, but we’ll be able to manage that pretty comfortably.”