Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has expressed his pride in his players for sticking together amid immense grief after learning former teammate Cam McCarthy had passed away in the hours before their game against Sydney.
The Dockers lost to Sydney by 48 points at Optus Stadium on Friday night and 11 Fremantle players took the field having spent time with McCarthy when he was on the club’s list.
Captain Alex Pearce and ex-skipper Nat Fyfe fought back tears during the pre-game ceremony to honour McCarthy and then placed flowers in the goal square after the match.
Pearce also signalled to the crowd as they stood to applaud at the 23-minute mark of the first quarter as a sign of respect for McCarthy who wore the number 23.
Longmuir said it had been a harrowing day.
“Some of our players have known Cam for a long period of time and continued those relationships post-playing him for us. You start thinking about them. It does make you reflect about how grateful we are to be doing what we’re doing and being where we are,” Longmuir said.
“I’m really proud of how our club came together and put their arms around those who are hurting. I was really proud of those players for going out there and competing the way they did.
“(Footy boss) Joe Brierty did a great job of getting around those who we knew were close to Cam, visiting those guys and making sure they felt safe in making the call on whether they wanted to play or not.
“Today when we got to the ground, we acknowledged it, spoke about it and made sure we focused on the next three hours. Post-game we need to make sure we put our arms around those players that are hurting and those people within our four walls that are hurting and make sure we’ve got full support.”
Longmuir said there had been no discussions about the game not being played. But he said it was obvious players had struggled emotionally.
Sydney coach John Longmire paid tribute to McCarthy, his family and Fremantle after the game. Sydney had connections to McCarthy with former Docker Joel Hamling and ex-GWS coach Leon Cameron at the club.
Longmire said everyone was feeling for the people who were close to McCarthy.
“You go to the connection those Freo guys would have had with him,” he said.
“I spoke with Joel Hamling today. He talked about his family. It’s a shock for everyone. We obviously didn’t have that connection or relationship that a lot of people over here had. I knew there would be a lot of heartache and the change room next door would be feeling it.
“I’m sure they are So to the Justin and the footy club, we pass on our thoughts.”