Fremantle captain Nathan Fyfe had his colours lowered in his second game back from injury in the Dockers 31-point loss to Carlton.
While not expected to be the dominate force we have become accustomed to so soon after a lengthy lay-off, it was still a disappointing performance nonetheless.
Fyfe ended up with just 11 disposals as the Carlton midfield ran riot at Marvel Stadium. Coach Justin Longmuir believes Fyfe may have been on the receiving end of some special attention from the physical Blues.
Along with being on the end of some crunching tackles from Jack Silvagni and Zac Fisher, Fyfe was involved in a bit of a scuffle at the three-quarter-time break.
Longmuir said post-game he felt the Blues had maybe set out to target the Dockers' leader.
“I thought Carlton went after him a bit, especially in the second half,” said Longmuir.
“I don’t know whether he was an instigator or retaliator in terms of the Carlton players, I’m not sure.
“I’ll ask him about it during the week but I’m probably more worried about the collective and where we sit as a team.
“I think both teams were playing it hard and fair. Fyfey doesn’t take a backwards step around the contest and a lot of their players don’t either.”
Carlton coach Michael Voss denied these claims when asked about it saying the Blues hadn't put any emphasis on any one player from the opposition.
