Fremantle's 79-point thumping of Essendon should put the tanking debate to bed, according to Dockers coach Ross Lyon.

There had been speculation in the lead-up to Saturday night's clash between two of the AFL's cellar-dwellers that winning would be a booby prize in the race for draft picks.

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Lyon has continually denied that is the case, and savaged the suggestions again after the 20.6 (126) to 6.11 (47) victory, that lifted Fremantle off the bottom of the ladder.

"I hope that puts it to bed for once and for all, particularly from our club's point of view," Lyon said.

"Culturally we want to build the habits now while we're going through adversity for the future, because they don't magically appear.

"There's a theoretical model that there's draft picks and there's a few clubs that that doesn't work for because you've got to establish a culture of hard work and discipline and teamsmanship. You can't play around with that.

"One pick isn't worth destroying a club culture for."

Five talking points: Fremantle v Essendon

The Dockers, who went into the clash on the back of 10 consecutive defeats, made their intentions clear early at Domain Stadium, booting the first four goals en route to their highest score of the season.

Fremantle began the game in last spot but leapfrogged Essendon and the Brisbane Lions - the team they travel to play next week - to 16th position on the ladder.

In the lead-up to the clash with Essendon, Dockers midfielder Connor Blakely had said his side was "offended" by tanking chatter, but Lyon had a different approach.

WATCH: Ross Lyon's full post-match media conference

"It's not about what you feel, it's about what you do with those emotions," Lyon said.

"We'll move on pretty quickly from here. We've got a big trip up north (to play Brisbane), so that's another challenge."

Fremantle had plenty of contributors in the victory. Skipper David Mundy had 33 touches, while Lachie Neale amassed 42 possessions and Michael Barlow proved a point after his recent axing to find the ball 26 times.

Tommy Sheridan (31 possessions), Blakely (25 touches) and Danyle Pearce (26 touches) also joined in the rout, while Matthew Pavlich, Michael Walters and Chris Mayne all finished with three majors for the Dockers.

WATCH: Barlow proves his worth

But in a sour note, injury-prone key position player Michael Apeness, back in the side for the first time since round 17, 2014, fractured his collarbone in the third term.

"We brought him back relatively early, he played four games (in the WAFL)," Lyon said.

"He's just showed true grit with the obstacles he's faced and his work ethic, his ability to handle that disappointment and his focus to come through the other side was really impressive.

"We haven't got much key-position depth on our list and so as soon as he was ready, we played him."