Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir believes his side's ability to find a way to win in a different way underlined the growth of the squad across the past 18 months.
Playing against a Western Bulldogs outfit willing to scrap and defend hard, it took until midway through the third quarter for the Dockers to put a scoreboard gap on the gallant visitors and they were unable to play their usual free-flowing, high-octane footy.
“I thought they threw something different at us and we persisted well,” Longmuir said post game.
“That's the way they're defending now, they get numbers back, hold their numbers and we had field position on our terms for the majority of the night and we persisted really well.
“Usually when we get that much supply and time in forward half, the dam wall eventually (breaks). It was a mature performance, low scoring, they forced us to hang in there and I'm proud of the way we did that.”
Given their inability to cash in and their need to play in a less conventional style to get the result, Longmuir was asked whether it is something he expected to face again, and the usually mild-mannered coach delivered a blunt response: “Good luck."
“They've got a few players out especially in their front half and probably have a couple of issues down back with their size as well so it's probably more circumstantial for them. I don't think we'll face that sort of look in finals," he said.
Despite his counterpart Luke Beveridge calling the midfield battle a nil-all draw, Longmuir heaped praise on Matthew Johnson and Hayden Young for their ability to curb superstar Marcus Bontempelli.
