Defender Luke Ryan has praised Fremantle’s efforts in a tight, frustrating contest against Adelaide, that saw Freo go down by 17 points on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.

The low-scoring affair remained a contested tussle for most of the day before the Crows kicked away late in the third term to give themselves a 19-point buffer at the last break.

Final quarter goals to Adelaide’s Alex Keath and Eddie Betts put the win out of reach for Fremantle.

Ryan, who won the Simpson Medal as best afield in the 2017 WAFL Grand Final, said the game was an exhausting contest and resembled September football.

“It was pretty fatiguing, the last quarter there were a few boys cramping up,” Ryan said.

“It was a finals-like game and they got over the top of us in the end.

“Credit to Adelaide, the pressure was pretty solid, and ours was pretty good too so it made for a real scrappy game.

“The ball was coming back into our defensive 50 really quick.

“It was a weird game…but the boys fought it out well.”

Ryan was one of Fremantle’s best on the day, collecting 34 disposals (11 contested), 544 metres gained and six marks.

The 23-year-old has stood up in defence for most of 2019, with his intercept marking proving to be a real feature to his game.

“I’ve never really focused on it (intercept marking), it just comes natural,” Ryan said.

“But I’ll keep working on it and my defending to make it a little bit better.”

Ryan praised the work of his skipper Nat Fyfe, who was consistent in effort all game.

Fyfe was important from the centre bounce with 32 disposals, eight clearances and eight tackles to his name.

“He’s always important and he just gets bodies flying in there,” Ryan said.

“He is a real bull in the middle and we love having him in there.”