Michael Barlow said the Fremantle playing group expected a relentless Geelong and he was pleased with how his side was able to contain their opponents.
Barlow said some words of wisdom from senior coach Ross Lyon at the main break fired Freo into gear to assert their midfield dominance in a 44-point victory at Simonds Stadium.
“We’re a proud group,” Barlow said.
“We knew they were always going to come from the start, they’ve had a huge week.
“We know what they bring and we know we couldn’t be on the back foot when that happened.
“I was really proud of the boys, how we handled the first half and stuck in there. They (Geelong) were right within striking distance at half time.
“Ross showed some areas to improve in and that showed on the score board at the end of the game.”
Midfielder Barlow relished the opportunity to sneak forward at times and he was able to kick three goals as well as rack up 31 touches.
But it could have been a few more goals if he had been more selfish. Barlow should have shot at goal when he opted to go to captain Matthew Pavlich instead, with the handball firing over the top and registering a behind.
Lyon even made mention of it in the change rooms.
Ross Lyon post-match Q & A
“Ask him about that handball to ‘Pav’…can you believe it?” Lyon said.
“Ross is just telling me now not to handball it over the top to the captain,” Barlow said.
“I probably should have kicked five or six.
“I feel content with my performance as long as I’m playing my role for the team.
“That’s what I’m paid to do and that’s what I want to do.”
Next up for Freo will be rivals West Coast, who defeated Carlton by 69 points on Friday night.
“They were pretty impressive,” Barlow said.
“Their strengths are pretty self-evident; the Brownlow Medallist from last year (Matt Priddis) is going pretty well and Josh Kennedy kicked 10 goals.
“Obviously we’ll have a look at how he kicked those and nullify him next week.”
“We really enjoy the aspect of the derby and externally it really gets built up with a lot of hype in the media which is fantastic for the state and fantastic for the footy club.
“But you can be guaranteed that the 46 players and the coaching staff within the Fremantle Football Club will be focused on running out against a faceless team and trying to play our brand of footy for four quarters.”
Freo takes on West Coast in the Carlton Draught Derby on Sunday 19 April.
Bounce down is 2.40pm WST at Domain Stadium.
