Defender Lee Spurr says Fremantle are heading in the right direction after playing a physical game against reigning premiers Hawthorn on Saturday.

Spurr said the improvement and development of Freo’s younger players in recent weeks had been a real positive.  

“There were certainly some improvement and positive things to take out of the game,” Spurr said.

“We have some young players who are showing some real improvement and growth, and we’re really looking forward to improving and building our football. 

“We’re trending in the right direction and it’s exciting.” 

Talking points after Hawks loss

Spurr said seeing the pressure and tackling endeavour shown against an experienced Hawthorn side was a reason for optimism. 

“The pressure was evident to see from the first quarter,” Spurr said.

“For the whole game, everyone was going through the lines and putting their head over the ball and that’s what we know we can deliver as a team. 

“Everyone from the top to the bottom did that today and that’s a basic of football that needs to be done each week.” 

Freo fail to match Hawks mids

While the pressure proved to be a positive on Saturday, Spurr said Freo put themselves under too much duress with their inability to navigate their way out of the backline in the second half. 

“They had a lot of entries and we had a lot of numbers back there but it doesn’t negate the fact that we need to defend,” he said. 

“We need to be better at stopping their momentum and be able to hold the ball up and break even when we’re under pressure like in that third quarter. 

“We certainly have a platform to improve on and for three of the four quarters we defended really well.”