After being outmatched by the Western Bulldogs in round six, Fremantle will focus on winning the hard ball in Saturday’s return fixture at Marvel Stadium.
The mature Bulldogs midfield had a night out the last time the two teams met through impressive performances from Jack Macrae (20 contested possessions, 14 clearances), Marcus Bontempelli (18 contested possessions, 10 clearances) and Tom Liberatore (16 contested possessions).
Adam Treloar led all players with 35 possessions alongside Caleb Serong, with Serong doing the brunt of Freo's midfield work with 19 contested possessions.
They won the contested possession battle 154-129 on their way to a 49-point win and defender Hayden Young said his team will take a different approach this time.
"The last time against the Bulldogs, we got smashed in the contest, and they destroyed us with their balance and their ability to flick the ball around,” Young said.
“They're really good contest players and then their ability to spread through the handball and run.
“Last time we played them we came in with an intensity to pressure the game and pressure the ball carrier.
“We probably just over committed and we collapsed in a lot and they exposed us with their handballs and their ability to chain out.
“That'll be our focus going to this week…to pressure their feedback handballs and hopefully win the ball back through good pressure.”
Fremantle's finals hopes appeared in jeopardy after post-bye defeats to Richmond and Greater Western Sydney earlier this month.
The 70-point loss to GWS, in which Fremantle was outclassed in the clearances and contested possessions, set off huge alarm bells.
They returned to their ball-winning ways against Essendon on Saturday night, scoring eight goals from stoppages on the way to a 32-point win.
"We watched some pretty average footage against GWS," Young said.
"Our team defence and team contest wasn't our brand, and it was a bit of a wake-up call.
"I thought the first five minutes against Essendon we didn't do it well, they went end-to-end and we were like, 'Oh no, here we go'.
"But the ability to turn that around and get back to playing our footy and not be shocked by an average first five minutes of the game was really important.
"We were able to play the next three-and-a-half quarters of really good connected footy."
Fremantle sits 11th on the ladder with a 7-7 record, while the Bulldogs (8-6) are seventh.
Teammates' praise, and thanks, for Henry
Jackson loves his role
Justin Longmuir post-match Q&A
