IF IMITATION is the sincerest form of flattery, perhaps Essendon should be taking some comfort from Sunday's 54-point loss to Fremantle at Subiaco Oval.

The Bombers crashed back to earth against Fremantle just seven days after scoring a remarkable win over the previously unbeaten St Kilda.

Fremantle defender Steven Dodd says his side had set out to do to Essendon exactly what the Bombers had done to St Kilda.

“Our preparation and our thinking going into today was all about pressure and one-percenters; smothers, tackles spoils, and just putting our bodies on the line,” Dodd said.

“We knew that was what Essendon showed last week against St Kilda when they won the game by beating them for the contested ball, and we knew we had to do the same thing today if we were going to be a chance.

“If you look at the way footy’s going these days, all the teams are talking about contested ball. So if you want to be a good side, you have to be high up in that. That’s what we wanted to pride ourselves on today.”

Fremantle's victory marked an amazing turnaround for the club after it stumbled to an embarrassing 63-point loss to Melbourne in round 20.

Dodd said while the players had been stung by that loss, they had not lost faith in each other.

“All of the boys had a session together, and we put each other on notice about that performance being unacceptable to ourselves, our club and our fans,” he said.

“We really wanted to bounce back and show that we are a developing side and our best footy is definitely ahead of us.

“We were hurting pretty badly after last week’s performance, and to bounce back and beat a top-eight side shows we’re headed in the right direction.”

Fremantle’s sixth win of the season was highlighted by strong performances from a host of young players including Matt de Boer, Nic Suban, Greg Broughton, Stephen Hill, Clancee Pearce and Hayden Ballantyne.

Dodd said the victory vindicated coach Mark Harvey’s commitment to blooding first-year players to help build the club’s future.

“It’s still early days yet, but the signs coming out of our young players are just hugely positive for the club,” he said.

“We’ve blooded so many young players this year, and we’ve been trying to fast-track their development so we can move forward and challenge for the eight next year.

“The Melbourne loss taught us that the senior players really need to be in and around the younger guys so they’re not alone. We need to play for each other, get the communication going and work to keep pressure on our opposition.

“We did that today and knocked off a club that’s looking to play finals, and that’s what we’ve got to do every week.”