Fremantle captain Alex Pearce has revealed the emotional pledge fellow defender Brennan Cox made to help the Dockers win a maiden premiership after being overlooked for the grand final.

Cox has not played since the round 24 defeat to Carlton because of a calf issue and was held out of the WAFL grand final for Peel Thunder last weekend as cover for the decider against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday.

The 28-year-old stalwart of the Dockers’ defence for the better part of a decade had been in a selection battle with journeyman Oscar McDonald for the final spot in the 23.

Fremantle selectors went with stability over sentimentality, with coach Justin Longmuir saying McDonald’s AFL match fitness got McDonald over the line ahead of Cox.

Pearce said Cox had still played a vital role in their preparation despite being disappointed to miss out on being a part of what could be Fremantle’s maiden premiership.

“Clearly when he found out, we had a bit of a chat and I gave him a bit of a hug, but the thing with Brennan is he’s got such great character and one of the first things he said was ‘don’t worry, I’ll still give to the group’ and that’s what he’s done,” Pearce said at the pre-grand final press conference.

“One of the great traits with Brennan is his personality, he’s bubbly and the energy he gives he’s able to get through some nervousness and whatnot.

“Having him amongst the group over these couple of days has been great. He’s brought his kids over and his young fella Arlo has been with us, mucking around with the players. It’s great to have him here.

“I know deep down how much he’d be hurting but he’s giving to the team and making us better still.”

Longmuir said Cox was close to being recalled but they went with continuity and consistency which means McDonald got the nod.

“He was right to play some footy last week. We held him out of the WAFL grand final and gave him a good session by himself, he trained really well,” he said.

“We went with continuity and consistency of team and we went with AFL match fitness. It was a difficult conversation. More for him.

“There’s been others this week where we’ve had senior players miss out on a moment that they’ve been striving for, for a long time.

“I understand the disappointment ... nothing I say to them is going to make them feel better in the moment but they’re all really mature, great team players who once they get over the disappointment will give great energy to the team and help prepare their teammates come 2.30pm Saturday.

“As disappointing as it, they’ve rebounded and they’ll do whatever the team needs until the game starts.”

Backman Luke Ryan told FoxFooty that he felt for his best mate after he was overlooked for the decider.

“It’s pretty cool that I get to do it (be in the grand final parade) with my best mate and his kid,” he said.

“I feel for him. He’s my best mate.

“I’m pretty sad he’s not out there with me.

“But win, lose or draw, we’re still best mates, and I love sharing this experience with him.”

Ryan says Cox learnt of the decision with a bit of time to digest it before Thursday afternoon’s team announcement.

“I found out a couple of days ago. We drive each other to training every day still,” he said.

“I’ve just been around as much as possible. Stick our arms around him and support him.”

Saturday’s grand final could be one of the wettest in more than two decades, with up to 8mm of rain predicted to fall throughout the day.

Despite the wet conditions at the MCG, Longmuir said they had not thought about making a late change for team balance which could’ve seen them withdraw 211cm ruckman Mason Cox for one of their emergencies in Jaeger O’Meara or Chris Scerri.

“We haven’t spoken about a late change,” Longmuir said.

“We’ll make sure we prepare the players for it. They’re aware of the conditions tomorrow and we’ll need to adjust certain things, but there won’t be a late change I would’ve thought.”

Fremantle have gone the long way on the back after losing the qualifying final defeat to Hawthorn before beating Geelong and Sydney, winning only three of the 12 quarters before booking their spot.

Longmuir said they were close to their best despite their mixed form headed into the big game against the Lions.

“Clearly our first game wasn’t great. I don’t think it’s the increase in tempo (of finals), I just think there’s a few areas of our game that haven’t been as efficient as what they had possibly been throughout the normal season,” he said.

“I think they’re easy to fix and a lot of parts of our game are in really good order. If you look at the averages across the course of the finals, we’re averaging over 60 inside 50s. That’s now a team that’s struggling for form.

“There’s a few things we’d like to be doing better which we reviewed out of the Sydney game, but we got a lot right.”

Longmuir said the Dockers were ready for the occasion of the grand final on the back of years of work up until this point.

“This hasn’t been a flash in the pan, it hasn’t been ‘we’ve got on a good streak and landed in a grand final’,” he said.

“We’ve build over a number of years for this moment. We’ve played the type of footy we feel holds up at this time of the year.

“Everything we’ve done has landed us in this spot and should hold us in good stead.”

A former player at the Dockers, Longmuir conceded it had been hard to not think about what it would mean to be the first premiership coach at the Dockers.

“I’ve thought about this moment for a number of years,” he said.

“When I first got into coaching, I always had the goal in the back of my mind to lead us to this position.

“It would fill me with great pride to be able to do that (win a premiership). But win or lose tomorrow, it’s not the end of the journey. As a football club we want to create something Fages (Brisbane coach Chris Fagan) has created where you’re contending for a number of years.

“We win tomorrow, it’s not full stop on the journey or what we set out to achieve. It’s another moment, a bit moment and something that will fill us with enormous pride and our fans will be able to celebrate.

“But it’s not the end of the journey. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to be able to create a team and a club that competes year in, year out like these guys have.”