Fremantle’s 56-point win over West Coast on Sunday has lifted Justin Longmuir into outright leadership for the most derby victories by a Dockers coach.

Sunday was Longmuir’s eighth derby victory from his 11 matches against West Coast, and that took him past Mark Harvey as being the club’s most successful coach in clashes against their cross town rival.

His record would be even better had Longmuir not been forced into isolation in the build up to the first derby of 2022 when he was classified as a close contact of someone who had COVID.

Fremantle won that game by 55 points after Jaymie Graham stepped in. The Dockers won seven of their first eight matches that year while the Eagles won just two games for the season.

Only three men have coached more derby wins. Adam Simpson leads the way with 12 while John Worsfold and Mick Malthouse are locked on nine victories. They all coached West Coast to premierships, and Longmuir is hoping to do the same thing for Fremantle.

Longmuir said the ladder indicates Fremantle should have the edge in current derbies.

“It’s a bit of a tale of where the two teams are at,” he said.

“They’re a younger team. We’ve been around for a while, been together for a while and are a bit more mature. You get a good sense that they are building though. They’ve got some really good young talent and are going to be really challenging us in the future. I don’t really get caught up in my record.

Longmuir’s coaching record in derbies is totally different to what he experienced as a player. He had a 4-9 derby record during his 139 games for Fremantle. That run of matches included his last AFL game when West Coast won by 31 points.

But Longmuir played in one of the most famous derbies when the Dockers beat West Coast in the last round of 2003 to secure a home final. He kicked two goals that day, including one which broke the game open in the final quarter.

Having experienced the derby hype as both a player and coach, Longmuir said he understands the importance of keeping the week as normal as possible for the team.

“The game gets built up a lot. That just creates more outside noise,” he said.

“My job as a coach is to make sure I keep bringing the players back to what’s important. I thought we prepared the players well. We didn’t start the way we wanted to start but because they were well prepared, we were able to work through the challenge of West Coast and get the game on our terms. I thought we won pretty comprehensively in the end.”

MOST DERBY WINS AS COACH

• 12: Adam Simpson
• 9: John Worsfold, Mick Malthouse
• 8: Justin Longmuir
• 7: Mark Harvey
• 6: Ross Lyon