IN CONSPIRING against Justin Longmuir as a player, the footy gods inadvertently created a smooth path for him to become a senior coach.

Drafted at No.2 overall behind Des Headland in the 1998 national draft, Longmuir was unable to perform to the lofty expectations due to a degenerative knee injury which flared badly even before the first of 139 matches.

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Longmuir, 39, appointed as Ross Lyon's replacement as coach at Fremantle late last year, has told In The Game with Damian Barrett that he knew he wanted to be a coach from early in his playing career.

"I always say that I enjoy coaching much more than I did as a player because of the fact that I had to deal with expectation," Longmuir said. 

"And I didn't deal with the expectation that well, as a player, and always had this thought process in the back of my mind that I was never fit enough because I could never do the work and never get on the track.

"And yeah, I suppose having the expectation of being number two draft pick hanging over your head adds to that. And that set me up well really for my coaching career. I kind of feel like as a player I didn't get things easy. I had to go through a lot of challenges and that set me up to come at coaching from a compassionate angle, I suppose."

After retiring from playing at 26, Longmuir spent time with West Perth, Fremantle, West Coast and Collingwood as an assistant coach.

"I think a lot of it was sort-of runs on the board, I mean, I've spoken a bit in the past about my apprenticeship and I've worked at some pretty successful clubs and worked in a lot of different areas at those clubs and had some really good experiences along the way and learnt from a lot of good people," Longmuir said. 

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"And I think a big part of my pitch was my ability to build relationships to get the best out of my players. And I think relationships is a word that's bandied around way too much. But I feel like I've been able to build that genuine care with the players that I've worked with. And that genuine care allows you to have honest conversations, and honest two-way conversations.

"I'm about empowering. A large part of my leadership style is really to do myself out of a job."

In the In The Game interview, Longmuir also: 

• REVEALED that he regularly entered AFL matches unsure if his knee would get him through, such was the fragile and painful state relating to loss of cartilage;
• SAID last season's Dockers' best-and-fairest winner Michael Walters was "as good I've seen" in his ability to "lift a training session, be it his voice or his intensity";
• SPOKE of his special relationship, formed when the two were assistant coaches at West Coast, with Phil Walsh.