ROSS Lyon and Phil Walsh are both hard-edged - not the types to get misty-eyed over footy.

But the Fremantle and Adelaide coaches are revelling in having given their beloved sport a rare modern-day highlight.

Lyon and Walsh let their midfield stars Nat Fyfe and Patrick Dangerfield lock horns for most of Fremantle's 11-point win in Adelaide on Saturday night.

The battle between two of the competition's finest was captivating.

For the record, Fyfe gathered 40 disposals and kicked a goal while Dangerfield had 38 disposals and a goal.

"You might call me old-fashioned but that is how I like footy," Adelaide's Walsh said.

"When I went to the footy as a young guy ... we'd watch great player versus great player. And that is what we saw tonight; I thought it was great.

"Maybe I'm a weirdo. I want to win ... but I also think we have to protect the game.

"And I think one thing fans love is those great battles and tonight was a great example of that. Everybody walking away would be talking about Fyfe v Dangerfield."

Fyfe had 26 contested possessions, Dangerfield 29; Fyfe had 10 inside 50s, Dangerfield six; Fyfe six tackles, Dangerfield eight; Fyfe 14 clearances, Dangerfield nine.

"I thought Fyfe and Dangerfield all night was a great match-up, both played great," Fremantle's Lyon said.

"We both let it roll and backed our players in.

"We acknowledge Dangerfield was getting a fair bit (of possession) and we thought we would just let it sit.

"We didn't want to go negative ... so we just stuck it out and we were happy with the outcome."