Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says the Dockers cannot afford to look past North Melbourne this Saturday or they could risk copping a “whack” despite a favourable fixture to finish the season looming.

Longmuir’s side are top-of-the-table and the form team of the AFL, having won a club-record 11 consecutive games.

In that stretch they’ve beaten last year’s minor premiers Adelaide on their home deck, the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium and dual reigning premiers Brisbane at the Gabba.

And they’ve done it while also dealing with several five and six-day breaks in between games.

It has set the Dockers up for a strong push to finish inside the top two, which is boosted by the fact seven of their next 11 games are in Western Australia.

Longmuir said they had to concentrate on the Kangaroos down in Bunbury rather than the cosy fixture ahead of an almost certain September berth.

“We’ve travelled a fair bit, had short breaks but the beauty about what we’ve been doing is we’ve been able to stay in the moment, embrace every challenge on it’s own merits whether it’s a five-day break or three six-day breaks in a row,” he said.

“We’ve been able to embrace where we are and the challenge that presents in the moment.

“There’s been a lot of talk around seven games at home or whatever it is, but really we’re just focused on North Melbourne because if you take the eye off the ball in this game it’s so even that you can cop a whack anytime. All our efforts are on North Melbourne.”

While they will play in Western Australia, they will head to Bunbury to take on the Kangaroos at Hands Oval — their first match for premiership points in the South West.

The Dockers have only played an intra-club match at the venue earlier this year, relying on a pre-season clash and home-and-away game between North Melbourne and West Coast as evidence for how to play the unique ground and the conditions it presents.

“It was pretty windy there last year and favoured one end, and it looks like the wind is going to be pretty still so that won’t affect the game,” Longmuir said.

“It is a big oval, slightly wider and slightly longer than Optus (Stadium) from the measurements we got and the feel we got in the intraclub.

“I was good to get down there and have a look at it before we see it again in the Captain’s Run. We haven’t spent a heap of time on it apart from just touching on those basic things. We’ve spent more of our time focusing on North’s strengths and areas of opportunities.”

Longmuir praised the Kangaroos’ development in 2026 and said they’d taken “a real step forward”.

“They’ve got young talent all over the ground, I feel like all their phases are connecting really well, they’re a strong stoppage team, their ball movement is really strong and their defensive profile has gone ahead from last year,” he said.

“They’ve been really competitive against some really good sides this year, so it’s going to be a great challenge.”