Fremantle fear small defender Brandon Walker’s horror run with injury is going to continue after he rolled his ankle during Thursday night’s qualifying final loss to Hawthorn and couldn’t get through the game.
Walker was a shock selection for just his second game of the season after battling through a series of injuries in 2025 and this year.
He was a devastated figure on the bench given he has fought back from multiple concussions and a shoulder injury this year to earn finals selection. Longmuir said the injury wasn’t looking good.
“Some ankles you can jab and get them back out there, and this wasn’t one of them. So that tells me it’s serious and really unfortunate because I thought he was holding his end of the bargain up,” Longmuir said.
“I thought he had some really good moments in a pretty big tussle with Watson. It’s been a bit of the story of his last two years. Every time he gets an opportunity and works his way back to the side, he hasn’t been able to string multiple games together. So I feel for him at the moment.
“He’s had a tough run in the last two years, but it’s probably even a little bit longer than that.”
Walker was handed the massive task of playing on Nick Watson. He showed dare to take the game on despite the star Hawk kicking an early goal but was also caught with the footy several times.
Fremantle had stuck to a core group of eight defenders all season but Longmuir said the coaches always believed Walker was ready for the job.
“It’s pretty basic. We thought he was up to the challenge, and I think he showed he was up to the challenge,” he said.
“We had a good chat about it at Match Committee. Jade Rawlings, the backline coach, thought his form was good enough. We had a good chat, and we backed him in against Watson who is one of the best ball small forwards in the comp. There’s some things he could have done a little better, but largely I thought he had a lot of good moments.”
Walker replaced Judd McVee in the team and the former Demon has now been dropped twice from the last three games despite playing 21 matches.
Longmuir said it was now up to everyone to fight for a game next week.
“Players get an opportunity to play at Peel on on Saturday and put their hand up for selection,” he said
“I’ve been saying all along through the media and to those guys that opportunities will come up. You’ve just got to be in good form and ready to take an opportunity when they do present. I’s good opportunity ahead for them.”
