FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon has labeled star Nat Fyfe "a monster athlete" on his return to football after he gathered 18 touches in the side's first-half demolition of Port Adelaide.
While the Power could only manage 12 inside 50s for the half, Fyfe was unstoppable despite being sidelined since round five with a shoulder injury.
His goal and presence around the ground had him set for a career-best return before he faded in the second half to finish with 26 touches.
But by then the damage had been done and Lyon did not hold back from singing his praises.
"The return of Nat Fyfe, who's just brilliant isn't he? Gee whiz, I wasn't sure what to expect, but give me a few more Nat Fyfes and I'll coach a bit better," Lyon said.
"He's such a good contested ball winner and a monster athlete."
Although Fyfe's first game back since shoulder surgery was a massive boost for Fremantle, who drew level with eighth-placed North Melbourne with their 27-point win over the Power, Lyon said the 20-year-old would move on quickly.
"You'd take 18 (first-half disposals) and move on," he said.
"There's bigger challenges that lay ahead for Nat Fyfe and this group than another team that's trying to emerge, to be fair."
The first challenge awaits the side next weekend when it plays its second derby of the year against West Coast at Patersons Stadium.
Lyon said that while winning against teams lower than it on the ladder was good, only a win over a side above it on the ladder would validate Fremantle as a genuine competitor.
"We beat the teams around us or below us, we need to beat somebody above us to sort of legitimise what we're trying to do for the year," he said.
"West Coast Eagles are the first opportunity to do that, so I'm really excited about it.
"Cross-town rival, we want to compete fiercely and hold our head high.
"I understand the responsibility as a coach and a playing group that we hold for our football club in a derby town."
If Fremantle starts next week's match in the same fashion it did on Sunday, it would give itself every chance of upsetting the Eagles.
But Lyon said he was "bitterly disappointed" with the final term, in which Port kicked three of the last four goals of the game.
"I thought we absolutely annihilated them in the first half … absolutely rapt with how we played, I thought it was a real dominant performance," he said.
"We took them to the cleaners in the first half, to be honest.
"In the last quarter, I knew they would lift but I was … bitterly disappointed with our last quarter, really quite frustrated."
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Harry Thring covers news for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
