FREMANTLE coach Mark Harvey was philosophical after his side’s 117-point belting from Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.

The visitors suffered the equal heaviest defeat in their history, while also kicking their lowest score after managing just 1.7.

After one of the worst performances by the club, Harvey pulled no punches when asked about it.

"There’s no excuse tonight. Adelaide were terrific and they were fantastic, and they taught us a bloody good lesson," he said post-match.

"It’s difficult for a young side to take that kind of beating.

"I told them that’s (Adelaide's performance) how good you need to aspire to be collectively as a team and as an individual.

"If you want to have a look at statistical data it’s not good. It’s terrible."

Harvey was blunt in his assessment of how the contest unfolded as he watched his side outmanoeuvred and outrun by an Adelaide outfit at the top of its game.

He said an inability to move the ball forward efficiently and combat Adelaide’s structures were the most frustrating aspects.

The Crows ran riot from the first bounce as a young Fremantle team constantly turned the ball over, although Harvey sought no excuse in the absence of senior players or those who played and were well below their best.

"We were blinded by the way they moved the ball and their positioning and then our inability to move the ball through situations," he said.

"We had really big problems getting inside our forward 50 and putting any pressure on.

"Our backline were under siege all night and too often was coming down unpressured inside their forward 50."

Despite his side's shortcomings, Harvey credited Adelaide for its performance and tipped it to be a major contender come finals.

"Adelaide will be an interesting team going forward," he said.

"Everyone thought there might be four challenging [for the flag]. There will be five.

"They’ve got a tough draw for the rest of the year and they play some really tough sides, but what they have got is everyone up and running now so that’s a real plus.

"When you have stability in your personnel then you have stability in your structures and that’s what they’ve got going for them."