Sutcliffe was disappointed to lose the tight encounter but said the final quarter was a positive sign for the team and showed its capability.
"We knew if we brought the right effort our footy would come together a little bit," Sutcliffe said.
"The last quarter is obviously the footy we want to be playing."
Freo, who are masters at denying the opposition the ball when at their best, managed to concede just 64 disposals, 12 inside-50s and four scoring shots to Geelong in the final quarter.
By contrast Fremantle managed 98 disposals and scored 11 times from 15 inside-50s in the final term.
Sutcliffe, who kicked just his second goal for the season in the first quarter, said the message at three-quarter time was to attack.
"The idea was definitely to be more attacking when we were four goals down. [It's] a big margin, especially against a good team like Geelong, so the idea was to score, take the game on and see what happened," Sutcliffe said.
It was Sutcliffe who kicked the low and direct pass to David Mundy with just seconds to go that gave the Fremantle midfielder a set shot after the siren to win the game.
He was confident he could do the job but knew it was going to be tough.
"[I have] full faith in Dave [Mundy] – every day of the week – but I suppose it's just one of those things that happens in footy," Sutcliffe said.
However, he wasn't dwelling on the result. He had been in a fierce contest and part of a team that just failed to win.
Now it was all about next week.
"We will go to next week, review the game and focus on Hawthorn," Sutcliffe said.
"[Tonight's game was] one of the most fierce clashes that we’ve had. Both teams brought pretty good effort and hopefully we can bring that effort again next week as well."
