Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe said there shouldn’t be too much read into either of Fremantle’s opening two games after Freo fell by three points to Gold Coast on Sunday at Metricon Stadium.
The result came a week after a resounding 82-point win against North Melbourne at home.
Speaking to The West Australian post-game, Fyfe said that a young and relatively new Fremantle group was still getting accustomed to playing alongside each other.
“I wish I could say we wouldn't but we’re going to have our ups and downs through the year, as long as the trajectory is up, that’s all we can hope for,” Fyfe told The West Australian.
“That's footy. We’re a developing group with new players, some weeks we’re going to play like rock stars and other weeks, not so well. I thought we didn’t give up, our method looked a bit stilted and that’s partly because Gold Coast were defending really well.
“At times we saw a starting midfield of Darcy Tucker, Jesse Hogan and Sean Darcy and myself. They’re players that I haven’t played much footy with around the midfield, so there are players learning what each other’s game is like so there’s going to be some inconsistencies.”
Fyfe felt the group couldn’t be faulted on their effort but said that wasn’t enough to win games of footy.
“It was a scrap right to the end and they ended up on top,” Fyfe said.
“We played really high quality last week and this was a little bit different. I thought the boys ground with their effort all the way to the end but we’re going to need to improve our method to be able to beat sides on the road.”
Fyfe said Fremantle would need to return to their round one form if they are to take it to an unbeaten St Kilda at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
“I think we need to go back a little bit to how we played last week,” Fyfe said.
“Our clearance work was ok today but our connection with the midfield and forwards just wasn’t there.
“That’s really going to start with our hunt and pressure and ability to get it back off them and from there our game style should take care of itself.”
