Captain Nat Fyfe says he can see a bright future after a youthful Fremantle Dockers side fought out a four-point win over North Melbourne on Sunday at Etihad Stadium. 

Fremantle’s win came while fielding their youngest side of the season with an average age of 23.66 – more than three years younger than next week’s opponent West Coast, who fielded the oldest side of round 16 at 26.82 years.

Freo also had the second most inexperienced side in terms of games, fielding nine players with 30 games of AFL experience or less, with an average of 68.2.

Fyfe said that Freo’s young side was showing their ability to compete at AFL level, while continuing to deal with the test of inexperience.

After giving up significant leads in losses to Geelong and St Kilda in rounds 14 and 15, Fremantle almost let another game slip after leading North Melbourne by as much as 25 points in the second term.

Fyfe credited the likes of 19-year-old ruckman Sean Darcy - who collected two more hitouts than his opponent Todd Goldstein – and Ryan Nyhuis, who kicked four goals on debut.

“You don’t want to be in those tight games for the whole year, it’s pretty hard for the players and it’s hard for the fans,” Fyfe said.

“But we acknowledge that we’ve got a youthful group who are learning their craft, learning how to get into games and how to run out games.

“There’s no doubt that with experience that will change.

“We saw Sean Darcy up against a premier ruckman in Goldstein and was exceptional today, and the performance of Ryan Nyhuis, Griffin Logue and Luke Ryan down back – there’s some really exciting times ahead for our club and our fans.” 

Fyfe also paid tribute to two of Freo’s unsung heros from the game, who battled valiantly through the contest with injury.

Due to Tommy Sheridan’s hamstring injury in the second term, Fremantle spent most of the game down one rotation, while the likes of Joel Hamling (hip) and Brady Grey (shoulder) were able to play on despite being limited by their injuries.

Grey finished the day with 12 disposals and four tackles while Hamling defended well with four spoils and two intercept marks – the equal most for Freo in both categories. 

Fyfe said Fremantle was building a culture of hanging tough, crediting Hamling and Grey for fighting on.

“I thought Joel was pretty gutsy playing out the game with injury as was Brady Grey who was battling a shoulder injury but has managed to butter up each week,” Fyfe said.

“I think that culture of resilience is starting to penetrate throughout our group.

“We’ve had guys playing sore but if you declare yourself fit to play you give everything you’ve got and I thought Joel and Brady in particular were shining examples of that.”