King has his say after Longmuir’s “Bahamas” quote

David King has responded to Justin Longmuir’s press conference comments.

The Fremantle coach, in response to criticism from King, said: “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what I’ve done to David King I’d be a rich man and I’d probably be in the Bahamas guts up rather than doing this job.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful towards anyone, but I don’t think David has put together a game plan, put together a list, put together a culture.”

King is completely fine with how Longmuir responded, but he still firmly believes the Dockers have a great list and should be genuinely contending for a premiership - not sitting ninth.

“We can’t just fire these bullets and expect nothing to come back, we’re talking about people’s jobs,” King said on SEN’s Fireball on Friday morning.

“In terms of (what) Justin (said), that’s perfectly fine. I’m more than happy with that.

“Of course I don’t know anything about how the culture is going or what they’re building over there. How could we be across 18 cultures? Impossible.

“The list? I reckon we can get a pretty good handle on what they’re doing with the list. What have I said about their list all year? They’ve got the best list in the comp.

“So I don’t know where we differ on that. And if you agree with me on the list, then why are you sitting ninth?

“As Justin said they are just opinions. We have no bearing on their footy club, we really don’t.

“But we’re here to assess why they’re working or why they’re not.”

In defence of Longmuir, Freo GM of footy Joe Brierty suggested that some opinions were “shallow in their research”.

To which King replied: “You’d go a long way to find someone who does more research on the game than myself.

“That’s just firing bullets for the sake of firing bullets. He’s better off just saying, ‘We support our man’. Simple as that. And not get involved in that.

“That’s Joe Brierty’s beliefs and that’s his decision to make, I don’t really care.

“But we’re still going to sit back and assess how they go.”

Watch King’s extended response below:

Longmuir has been in King’s crosshairs for some time.

The Dockers coach has been the subject of constant criticism by the SEN Fireball and Fox Footy analyst who believes the WA club is underachieving under the 44-year-old.

King firmly believes it’s finals or bust for Freo this year after they went down to Sydney last weekend.

“I just think 2026, the best job in football is coaching Fremantle,” King said on First Crack.

“I look at their list, I look at where they’re at, I look at the opportunity in front of this footy club and I don’t know if that’s going to be Justin Longmuir anymore, I really don’t.

“I think that he has to play finals this year in his sixth season to show that he is the man.”

He added: “I reckon he’s (Longmuir) under the most pressure in the AFL right now.

“He’s on a contract that didn’t give you any confidence.

“If you miss the eight, that’s a disaster. I just think this is it. Find out whether this guy is your man – if not, rip the bandaid off and go again. Find the guy that is going to take you there.

“They are ripe to go and that’s not to win the flag, we’re talking making the eight now. That’s watering expectation down far too low. I think the heat’s on him.”

'Guts up' in the Bahamas

In response, Longmuir spoke of King’s criticism as being an opinion only.

He also provided a very cheeky quip.

“To be honest, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what I’ve done to David King I’d be a rich man and I’d probably be in the Bahamas guts up rather than doing this job,” Longmuir told reporters.

“In the end everyone needs to understand that it’s just David’s opinion. We’re a game based on opinion and that’s his opinion.

“That’s enough said about it really. I don’t want to be disrespectful towards anyone, but I don’t think David has put together a game plan, put together a list, put together a culture.

“It’s just an opinion and that’s what I’ll take it as.”

Longmuir was asked if he believes he’s been afforded enough credit for what he’s done while in charge of the Dockers.

“I don’t get caught up in it because I’m always looking forward and looking to how I can improve my coaching and improve the way we’re playing,” he responded.

“We’re trying to live by the mantra of living in the moment. I know people get caught up in it and some people around me get caught up in it, but really I’m just focused on the opinions of the people I trust around this club and doing the best I can.”

The ninth-placed Dockers face fifth-placed Hawthorn in a potentially finals-defining crunch clash at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.