If a week is a long time in football, a fortnight can be an eternity.
After dropping the first two games of the season - including an 89-point loss to Port Adelaide in round two – Fremantle has bounced back to win two in a row to even up their win-loss tally.
Lachie Neale, the youngest member of the leadership group, credited Freo’s ability to stay level headed as the club came under external pressure.
“It shows that we have really strong minds and strong people in the organisation,” Neale said.
“We didn’t just drop our heads and think the season was done at 0-2.
“It’s pretty early in the year, and big losses happen.
“We’ve seen that in seasons past, where we’ve been going really well when we’ve had a big loss.
“We didn’t play how we wanted to against Port Adelaide, but at the moment we’re working to make sure that was a one off.
“We need to continue to build from the last couple of weeks.”
Neale kicked four goals in Fremantle’s most recent triumph, a thrilling two point win over Melbourne at the MCG
It was Freo’s first win on the road since round 12 in 2016 against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
“I think we’ve been able to go back to basics,” Neale said.
“It’s the competition at ground level and in the air, as well as tackling and winning the ground ball.
“Everything else flows from that really.
“To be honest we probably didn’t focus on that in the first couple of weeks and we’ve gone back to basics and the game flows from there.
“We really focused on these things and it’s worked for us over the last couple of weeks.”
