Luke McPharlin admits effort by Fremantle was disappointing but future looks bright

VETERAN defender Luke McPharlin says the loss to Geelong was "un-Fremantle like", but that the Dockers were confident of bouncing back strongly.

Fremantle

VETERAN defender Luke McPharlin says last night's loss to Geelong was "un-Fremantle like", but that the Dockers were confident of bouncing back strongly.

McPharlin said the team's trademark effort was missing as Fremantle was trounced by the Cats at Simonds Stadium.

"We probably didn't bring great effort today," he said.

"A lot of us were probably underperforming in terms of the effort we normally give on the field.

"We got smashed in ground ball and clearances etc, so all the KPIs that you want to get right when you play a game.

"So we really put ourselves under pressure from the start."

McPharlin said he found the way Fremantle played even more disappointing than the result.

"Our focus every week is all about just playing our brand and that's been the most important thing," he said.

"Obviously we love to win games of football, but the fact that we didn't play our style and our brand of football was probably the most disappointing thing, regardless of the outcome.

"We'll all go home and assess and look to bounce back pretty quickly."

McPharlin said the returns of senior players Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy and Michael Barlow against St Kilda next Sunday would give the team a huge boost.

The All-Australian defender has acted as Fremantle's skipper since Round 4 in the absence of Pavlich.

"We've been a bit thin on the ground in terms of our leadership group," McPharlin said.

"It will certainly be good to have a good spread of leaders in all the different zones, and especially our captain, so we're looking forward to that.

"It's great to have quality players back in your side and particularly leaders."

McPharlin predicted Sandilands and Zac Clarke would form a formidable ruck combination in the run to the finals.

"Aaron's always been a weapon forward when he's gone there and given the amount of football he's missed, Zac's been really carrying the load and they can hopefully work in together quite nicely," he said.

McPharlin said Pavlich's inclusion in attack would be crucial.

"It will be good for the small forwards around his feet to have a big body and an experienced forward there providing a target," he said.

"The sooner we can get him back the better and hopefully he will structure us up much better."