Up against the AFL’s third placed side away from home, Luke Ryan said Fremantle knew they had to be up to the fight against GWS at Spotless Stadium on Saturday.
Fremantle threatened to upset the Giants' hopes of a top-four spot, holding a 15-point lead at three quarter time, before GWS responded with a five goal to two final term in their 12-point win.
Ryan, who laid a team-high six tackles for the day, said Fremantle’s pressure was a contributor to challenging one of the AFL’s most talented sides.
“Our tackling was strong everywhere. That was a focus,” Ryan said.
“It really helped us backs to get organised early and around the ground.”
Ryan said that Fremantle’s defenders held their own despite the being a man-down, with Connor Blakely spending most of the game off the ground with a dislocated shoulder.
Playing his first game since the round 12 bye, Cam Sutcliffe moved to the backline in the absence of Blakely, picking up 21 disposals and laying five tackles.
“Connor's our best running back and it was a big loss,” Ryan said.
“But to the boys credit we all played our roles and Cam (Sutcliffe) came down back and he really helped us out with his experience.
Ryan continued his impressive risein his seventh game at AFL level.
After missing Freo’s round 18 clash with Hawthorn for not meeting team standards, Ryan returned with another career-best performance.
He bettered his career-high disposal count by five, his marks by seven and rebound 50s by two with 25 disposals, 14 marks and eight rebounds.
Ryan remained modest about his efforts, crediting his fellow defenders for their contribution.
“It comes down to the boys helping everyone out and working together down back," Ryan said.
“‘Johnno’ (Michael Johnson) and Joel (Hamling) again were really strong, and even Lachie Weller helped us out.
“I just got in the right spots at the right time and was really lucky."
