Following Saturday’s 58-point loss to St Kilda, Ross Lyon suggested there would be a ‘price to pay’ in the fallout, and the theme was similar on 6PR’s Sports Today on Monday night.

The Fremantle senior coach forecast multiple changes for the Thursday night game against Carlton on 31 July.

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Among the possible automatic inclusions will be injured stars Aaron Sandilands and Stephen Hill, while the AFL’s form small forward Hayden Ballantyne will also slot straight in after serving his suspension.

"We'll certainly have Hill, Ballantyne, Sandilands and (Garrick) Ibbotson available," he said.

“There’s four, and (Tommy) Sheridan and (Hayden) Crozier, to name a couple, were pretty good at Peel.

"We'll potentially have up to six changes, minimum three to four.”

Fremantle’s loss to the Saints ended the club’s winning streak at eight games – one off the club record of nine-in-a-row from 2006.

Lyon has always maintained in media conferences that there were no easy games in the AFL, and while some would gloss over the comment as a necessary cliché, the results in round 18 justified the message.

North Melbourne went down to Carlton on Friday night, while Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne ran top four aspirants Geelong and Port Adelaide right down to the wire.

“We were the worst, obviously, but it highlights the brutal nature of the competition,” Lyon said.

“No one really wants to hear it, but there are no easy games in the AFL, and the weekend highlights it.

“For all the rhetoric about potential results and ‘you’ve got this draw’, it’s garbage, it’s a brutal competition and you need to work hard.

“It’s a good reminder for everyone.”