Caleb Serong: Fremantle Dockers coach Justin Longmuir vows to ‘change things up' to better protect star
The Dockers were hoping to extend their winning streak to seven games but were blown away in the midfield and James Jordan restricted Serong to just 11 possessions in Sydney's 14.10 (94) to 12.11 (83) win.
Sydney also held Serong to 19 disposals earlier in the season while St Kilda restricted him to 18 touches in round eight and 15 possessions last week.
Serong has been one of the AFL's best ball winners, at one stage having 73 consecutive games with at least 20 disposals. Coach Justin Longmuir said the team needed to give him new ways to impact the result when receiving heavy attention.
'We've got to explore that, absolutely,' he said.
'We put him forward in the third quarter and he kicked a goal. He had a little bit more influence in the second half. We think he can have influence as a forward. We'd rather not do it.
'We'll try and change things up in the midfield a little bit. We went to that. We will keep exploring those things. He's getting more and more attention. Teams are sitting tighter and tighter on him so we'll keep helping him through that.'
Sydney also restricted Andrew Brayshaw's influence for large portions of the game and controlled the midfield. Sydney led the centre clearances 10-2 at half-time which set up their 17-point lead.
Fremantle fought back strongly in the second half, winning the clearances and reducing the deficit to one point during the final term. The Dockers comprehensively lost clearances in all of four games where Serong was restricted this season. But Longmuir denied his team relies on Serong and Brayshaw to be the keys to victory.
'We had the same team out there in the first half as the second half and won the clearances in the second half,' he said.
'Caleb was still out there in the second half and we were plus-five for clearances in the second half. It was the same personnel so I'm not concerned about that.'
Despite entering the game as one of the AFL's form teams, the loss saw Fremantle fall from sixth to ninth in a reminder of how tight this season is at the top.
But Longmuir said the squad wouldn't be letting the ladder dictate their emotions as they prepare for a Saturday night clash against Hawthorn at Optus Stadium.
'It wasn't as though we were going to go through the rest of the season and not lose. We were probably hoping that but it's a bit unrealistic,' he said.
'A loss was going to come. We'll review it the same as we reviewed our six wins, get better and try to beat Hawthorn next week. I'd imagine we're a game out of the four. We lost a game. We're not out of it. We'll keep fighting.'
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