Fremantle coach Ross Lyon has implored his players to remain strong around the contest and take their opportunities following a 17-point loss to Adelaide on Sunday.
Six second-half goals to the Crows resulted in a 7.9 (51) to 5.4 (34) win in a tight, scrappy affair at Adelaide Oval.
The stat sheet looked fairly even on paper, with inside 50’s sitting at 50 apiece for both teams, and eight marks inside 50 each.
Fremantle were hard-fought in their efforts, topping the tackle count (65-58), while the Crows dominated the contested possessions (183-164) and came out slightly on top in clearances (46-43).
Nat Fyfe (32 possessions, seven clearances) and David Mundy (35 possessions, eight clearances) worked hard in the middle but were beaten by the Crows engine room.
Lyon was pleased his young side stood up against the Crows right up until the final siren.
“We had wonderful effort and fought it out to the end and gave ourselves a look,” Lyon said.
“We’re a young team that is standing up and improving our footy, but we need to keep going.
“Sometimes when equal force meets equal force you need to be able to execute.
“And they (the Crows) probably did it a little bit better.”
Lyon said the four-quarter contested battle made for a low-scoring affair.
“I thought it was high intensity, bodies were flying and it was a very physical game,” Lyon said.
“Two strong contested ball teams so I don’t think anyone planned for it to come out that way (a low-scoring game).
“We had 50 (forward 50) entries, they had 50 entries, so it’s not like teams weren’t going in.
“Both teams were desperate to win and neither team gave up, so I was really proud that we gave ourselves a chance in the last quarter.”
Lyon said the group will go through a review and recovery process, before shifting focus to next Sunday’s clash against Richmond at Optus Stadium.
“We will lick our wounds, we have the Tigers next week,” Lyon said.
“It will be a positive review and some lessons within that, and we need to improve our football.”
