Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir hopeful ahead of captain Alex Pearce’s date with AFL Tribunal

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Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir hopeful ahead of captain Alex Pearce’s date with AFL Tribunal

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir believes accidents can’t be removed from the AFL and hopes the tribunal will rule in his captain Alex Pearce’s favour when he fights a three-match ban tonight.

Pearce will contest the charge of engaging in rough conduct towards Port Adelaide’s Darcy Bynre-Jones in the hope of being available to play against Gold Coast this weekend.

The pair collided when running in different directions to take a mark and the Power player was forced out of the game with concussion.

WATCH THE INCIDENT IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

Longmuir said players had become so courageous with the way they attack the ball that accidents were bound to occur.

“I do feel there’s football collisions that happen with two players going at the footy and understand there are going to be injuries from that,” he said.

“It’s really unfortunate. You don’t like to see anyone going off with a concussion. But we talk about Cooper Simpson’s injury. He’s going to miss 10 weeks because he was on the line of the ball.

“Players put themselves in those positions continuously and sometimes you come off second best. I just feel that was one of those contests.”

Longmuir said coaching players to have the correct technique to protect themselves when running with the flight of the ball was difficult. He said most players would do whatever they felt was required to win the ball, even if that meant taking extreme risks.

Camera IconDockers footy boss Joe Brierty with Alex Pearce. Credit: Andrew Ritchie/The West ***********

“I think some of them are borderline reckless,” he said about running with the flight.

“We ask a lot of our players. That’s one of many vulnerable situations that our players put themselves in each week.

“People want to say the game’s not as physical as it used to be, then you get those moments. I really appreciate and have great gratitude for players in the modern game who put themselves in that position.

“Whether you call it courageous or what the team needs or whatever, we’ve got a lot of courageous people playing AFL football.

“We can (ask them not to) but players are so competitive. They want to win. He (Byrne-Jones) was thinking ‘I need to go back and mark this ball so I can kick a goal for my team.

“Or he might be thinking I need to go back and make this a ground ball in my forward 50 so Fremantle don’t take another intercept.

“We can coach them but players are competitive beasts who want to impact the game. I think it’s really admirable for what our players put themselves through across the comp.”

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