FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir has refused to write off the Dockers’ season despite now needing other results to go their way to snatch a finals berth after a nine-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney on Saturday.

The Dockers trailed the Giants by eight points at the final change and pulled to within a goal on three occasions without claiming the lead before Jesse Hogan booted the sealer with just over two minutes remaining at Engie Stadium.

A top-eight spot was within the Dockers’ grasp when they were sitting in third place and eyeing off a double chance just three weeks ago, but they are now at real risk of being out of finals contention by the time they host the Power next Sunday.

"We'll front up like we did today. You can't sit back and look at our footy the last three weeks and say we haven't had a crack,” Longmuir said when asked how the Dockers would play out the season.

"The message to the players after the game was that I was proud of their efforts. Come away from home, play a top-four side after two narrow losses, and sometimes you can get caught up in the outcomes and the ladder and the scoreboard.

"I just thought we stuck at it all day today and competed our backsides off. The challenge is to front up against Port next week and do the same thing."

The Dockers were left to rue the absence of captain Alex Pearce as Giants' spearhead Hogan made a powerful start with two early goals on the way to booting six for the match.

Hogan spent two years at the Dockers but could only manage 18 goals in 19 matches before joining the Giants ahead of the 2021 season.

GIANTS v DOCKERS Full match coverage and stats

The 29-year-old is now closing in on a first Coleman Medal after equalling the Giants’ club record for 67 goals in a season with at least two matches still to play.

"We didn't have a heap of options, missing our skipper who would usually play that role (on Hogan) for us,” Longmuir said.

“The thing is with Jesse, he does a really good job of trying to get the match-up that he wants.”

But Longmuir would not be drawn on the improvements that Hogan has made since his brief stint at the Dockers came to an end, saying, "I won't get into turning his life around, but his ability to work, his contested marking, he's done a great job to consistently put his best out on the footy field” .

While Hogan was a presence in the forward half with a game-high six goals, Brent Daniels was just as important to the Giants’ victory along with Tom Green who gathered a career-high 40 touches.

Daniels finished with 29 disposals and seven clearances, while also hitting the scoreboard with three goals that included two clever checksides and a long bomb from inside the centre square.

"Daniels was outstanding today. It felt like when we were not quite getting it done, he was keeping us in it, him and Jessie,” Giants coach Adam Kingsley said.

"His ability to pressure, his tackles, he ended up with 13 in the end, his finish... I thought he had an outstanding game.

“He certainly provided that spark to help us get back into the game.”