Fremantle’s defence may have been the strongest line in a 31-point loss to Carlton at Marvel Stadium, but leader Alex Pearce believes there are still lessons to learn for the group after Freo was soundly outplayed across the board on Saturday.
The backs had to deal with a -21 inside 50 differential as Carlton dominated the centre clearances 13 to five.
A scrappy effort in the first quarter saw Freo lead by nine points despite Carlton having 12 more inside 50s, but Pearce admitted the Blues forwards eventually took control.
“I thought we battled really well. We were under the pump,” Pearce said.
“Sometimes you just have to be desperate and try and halve a contest, get a fingernail in. I thought we kept trying to do that, but we’ll have a lot to learn as a group about how to stay confident with the ball and press up the ground.
“You learn more from your losses. It’s important to know how you react when you’re under that kind of heat and fatigue. We’ll learn lessons individually from that, and also as a group, in how we can wrestle back the momentum and get the game back on our terms.
“I’m still proud of all of my brothers back there.”
Pearce was thankful to have the assistance of Griffin Logue in the backline. The versatile tall had been used as a forward in Freo’s previous three games before returning to his usual defensive role against the Blues.
The return of Taberner (two goals) helped facilitate Logue’s switch back, who had 14 spoils and six intercepts in what was a good showing against Charlie Curnow, who kicked four goals despite Logue’s best efforts.
“It’s always great to have ‘Tabs’ back, he’s an important leader for us up forward. The delivery wasn’t great to him a lot of the time today but he battled hard,” Pearce said.
“And Griff had a great battle with Charlie today, they’re both really good players. He helped me out a few times, Griff, I liked having him back as we work together really well.”
Pearce said Carlton outplayed Fremantle in the contest, an area Freo want to see as their strength.
“We knew we’d have to be on our game, but they beat us around the ball,” Pearce said.
“They won the contest in their forward half as well. We try and pride ourselves on that usually, they beat us in that area today and that’s what won them the game.
“We’ll learn our lessons over the next couple of days and we’ll come back to our home fans and try and bounce back."
Despite the result, the 10-4 Freo are set to finish the round in the top four and face Port Adelaide next Sunday at Optus Stadium as they push for a return to AFL finals. Tickets are on sale now.
