Despite finding a number of positives to take out of the night, Ed Langdon made it clear that Fremantle needs to improve from a 59-point loss to Sydney at the SCG on Saturday.

A youthful Fremantle outfit, with four first-year players and seven players with 20 games experience or less, took it up to Sydney but failed to find a connection forward with the Swans clearly making the most of their forward entries.

Up against a team leading the AFL in clearances, Fremantle won the stat 31-25.

Fremantle also had the better of the contest in the opening term however, Sydney made Freo pay for only kicking 0.4 up to the opening break and 2.9 up to three-quarter time.

A five-goal final quarter saw Fremantle gain some respectability as Sydney threatened to inflict an even heavier loss.

“I know it’s hard to say after a loss like that but I think in the past couple of years, when we’ve been down like that at half-time, we’ve probably let it blow out a bit,” Langdon told 6PR post-game.

“I thought we fought it out to the end. I don’t think the scoreboard was reflective of how we were going at half-time.

“I think our effort was really good and I think we hit the post four times in the first half.

“Sometimes that’s what happens in footy and Sydney were also were very good today.”

Langdon said it’s crucial for Fremantle to find a way to make the most of work done by the midfield.

The speedy midfielder was again one of Freo’s best with 29 touches, nine marks and a goal, alongside the likes of Lachie Neale (seven clearances) and Nat Fyfe (13 contested possessions).

Ruckman Aaron Sandilands had arguably the biggest impact for Freo, kicking two goals and doing the bulk of the work as Fremantle won the hitouts 50-14. 

“I’ve been pretty happy with my form the past couple of weeks but at the end of the day it doesn’t count for a whole lot when the team’s not winning,” Langdon said.

“The midfield’s been great. Aaron’s so important to us and when you’ve got (David) Mundy, (Nat) Fyfe and Neale going through there, that’s pretty handy.

“(Fremantle’s inside 50 delivery) is something we’ve got to work on.

“It probably comes back to leading patterns. We’ve got a lot of young guys playing forward this year and that’s going to come in their development, knowing where to run and getting that connectivity between the mids and the forwards.”

Langdon gave an update on defender Joel Hamling, who didn’t appear on the field after half-time due to a concussion. 

“I just had a chat to him, he seems to be alright,” Langdon said. 

“I think he had a fairly decent gash in his chin which he got stitched up. I think he’s a bit dazed but he seems to be alright.”