When Fremantle fell to a shock 10-point loss to Melbourne in Round 6, coach Justin Longmuir accused his players of not being up to standard.
Media scrutiny followed as the Dockers were accused of “getting their pants pulled down” in the “spanking” in worrying signs for a side many tipped would feature in September.
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But sitting outside the top eight at 3-3 heading into a match against the highest-scoring team in the AFL, Fremantle’s leaders stepped up to the plate.
Caleb Serong admits players got together for a brutal honesty session where it was defender Luke Ryan who had the biggest impact.
“Sometimes you can overcorrect a few things … I think this group has shown they care a lot,” he told Fox Footy.
“We spoke as a leadership group early on Monday morning about how we wanted to look and what we wanted to get out of it. To be honest, we didn’t really have any idea what we wanted to get out of it.
“We wanted to get in a room and let guys speak about what they’re feeling.
“Lukey Ryan, if you know Lukey, he’s a man of few words in team meetings but he spoke up. He was the one to really lead the charge about what we want to be.
“When he speaks, guys listen.
“When he does choose to speak up, you know it’s coming from a place of care and passion for the club.
“He was probably the one that really led the charge, but all the leaders spoke up and verbalised what we wanted to see this week.”
What we got was a first quarter demolition as the Dockers piled on six goals to two to stun the Crows, as Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks conceded his side was “bashed” at the contest.
Dockers defender Brennan Cox was “really proud” of the response to the 10-point loss to Melbourne, conceding the side got “lazy” in that MCG defeat.
“Last week we didn’t do defensive acts and were lazy on defence really, so that was front of mind this week,” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“(Adelaide) are a really strong forward line so really proud of how the boys went.
“It was pretty tough (reviewing the Demons loss) – it wasn’t easy to look at.
“It came from a place of love and a place of everyone wanting to be better.
“It was tough to have those conversations … All the boys took it on-board – we saw it out there today.
“Some of the clips we saw, there were clips where we weren’t helping each other out. We weren’t playing for our teammates and that’s not what a connected group does.”
The Dockers went on to finish 18-point winners over the Crows – their fourth win in five games.
Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna liked the fight he saw from Fremantle but said it wasn’t “crisis time” at the club despite the pressure put on the Dockers.
“They are driven to succeed. They understand that they’ve never won this premiership and they are after it,” he said.
“I think the message this week was to say: ‘Right, we’re getting in there, we’re getting after them’.
“When their midfield dominate like that, they rarely lose the Dockers.
“(The) game was over at three quarter time.”
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