COACH Mark Harvey has labelled Fremantle's effort against Richmond “non-competitive” and will be demanding his playing group shows more character when the going gets tough.
Fremantle was heavy favourite coming into Sunday's clash at Subiaco Oval, but suffered a 64-point mauling. Harvey didn’t hold back with his players after the game and had only slightly calmed down when fronting the media.
"It was non-competitive, and our members and supporters have every right to be disappointed with it. This club has got to learn to string winning games together," Harvey said.
"I was angry, yes. When you go through that of course I would be. Whilst I like to encourage and compliment players when they do things right, there's a time when you need to express yourself vigorously, and I did that."
Harvey did not want to make any excuses for the performances and didn’t let his players make any, but he does believe last week’s torrid western derby had an impact.
"I didn’t let the players talk after the game as I did all the speaking, so I'm not sure if they felt there was any reason for the performance," he said.
“We continue to have problems in the centre square, we let Richmond get uncontested marks, quick ball movement and easy goals.
"If you have a look at it, both derby and showdown sides struggled, so the two-team town stuff is interesting. Even though we had an eight-day break, it was a good learning curve for me to see the effects of the derby.
"It's interesting what football does to sides. Richmond and Carlton won with backs to the wall and we come out and play the worst we have in my time as coach. If we have to rely on external pressures to play well, we are kidding ourselves."
Richmond deliberately picked a running side that worked tremendously against a seemingly top-heavy Dockers side. Harvey will look seriously at selection and at least four players will be under pressure to hold their spots against Adelaide.
Andrew Browne, Andrew Foster and Brock O'Brien are working back to full fitness in the WAFL, with Clayton Hinkley also close to earning his AFL debut.
Matthew Carr and Shaun McManus both played for East Fremantle, but were the main culprits in the Sharks’ poor disposal around the ground and in front of goal.
"They did pick a running side for this ground and that's something we have to address. When you look at them taking 60 more marks than us, we have to look at selection, particularly here at Subiaco," Harvey said.
"There will be [players under pressure], but I won't name them. I'm not one of those coaches that likes to talk about individuals in front of the media, but they will know internally about their positions in the side and we will consider three or four changes this week, maybe more."
Fremantle now has a 1-3 record for the season and things don’t get any easier, with Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and Geelong on Anzac Day the next two fixtures.
"We have some tough games ahead of us, but the whole competition is tough," he said.
"It's about how you fight through and our guys have to understand that it's a never-ending story about getting up each week to be the complete player and team. We are inconsistent at the moment."
