FREMANTLE coach Mark Harvey says his side's present form is "clearly not good enough" to compete with the rest of the competition.

That was Harvey's adamant assessment as he opened his media conference following St Kilda's 83-point defeat of Fremantle at Docklands on Saturday night.

"There is a lot of hard work to be done and the whole football club needs to work diligently at closing the gap between a side that plays very well here [at Docklands]," Harvey said.

"In reflection, probably what they did last week and this week shows how far we are away from being a good side.

"Is there an excuse? No there's not, but we're just not good enough."

Harvey said the media could analyse the loss however it liked, but he was unsure if it was the worst since he took over as coach in 2007.

"That's always difficult to say. I'm not going to form an opinion on it, because it'll form a headline. It was certainly a disappointing night from the way we played and went about it tonight," he said.

Having already flagged this season a development year, Harvey indicated hard times were part of the process.

"Sometimes it's best for them to go through difficult times early and not get it handed to them on a plate," he said of his young squad.

"But you really don't want to get beaten in those circumstances and then getting daunted by the next game and the next game."

He added he would work closely with his players to rectify the situation.

"You look for answers when you go through a defeat like that and sometimes they can be very hard to find," he said.

"But simply, right across the board tonight, there are all areas we never looked like getting involved in the game."

Harvey said it was also a disappointing result for defender Antoni Grover, who was celebrating his 150th game.

"That's a tribute to Grover and his tenacity and his approach to football and his will to prove people wrong along the way," he said. "They're the great stories about football.

"We didn't go over the top with it, but we acknowledged it enough."

Still the coach was able to find some positives in Chris Tarrant's efforts on St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, draftee Stephen Hill's role on Leigh Montagna and further opportunities for another first-year player, Nic Suban.

Harvey said he was already learning plenty about some of his players' long-term futures.

"Without going into individuals, yes, you find out more and more about them," he said.

As for changes to the side for next Saturday night's Len Hall Anzac Day match against the Sydney Swans at Subiaco, Harvey put ruckman Zach Clarke and midfielder Matt de Boer in the frame for debuts.

"We're not in a situation where we can [make wholesale changes]," he said.

"You'll probably see another first-gamer play next week or two. I'll leave that until the middle of the week.

"The Anzac Day game has always been a big part of where I've come from – you talk about bonding and being against the odds and getting ambushed."