AS HE pondered Fremantle's 98-point loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night - which all but ended any hopes of playing in the finals - coach Mark Harvey could only shake his head at the misfortune that has struck his team this season.

Already facing an injury crisis, Freo lost Matthew Pavlich to a calf strain (he was subbed out in the second quarter) and Hayden Ballantyne to a hamstring injury during their thumping defeat at the hands of the Kangaroos.

Pavlich, whose injury first flared in the warm-up before last weekend's home loss to Carlton, is in serious doubt for Fremantle's final two matches against Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs.

"I can't tell you whether he's going to play in the next two weeks," Harvey said.

Harvey admitted he was shocked by the size of the loss to North Melbourne, but he added that he would struggle to find 22 fit men to take on the Magpies at Patersons Stadium next Friday night.

"I've never seen it before - how many players are knocked up," he said. "A lot of them can't train during the week and they're just flat-out getting to the game.

"[But] that's not a reflection of the margin, and it's not discounting how good North Melbourne were tonight."

In the past two weeks, Fremantle has regained the services of ruckman Aaron Sandilands and star midfielder David Mundy after long layoffs. Yet their lack of match-fitness was exposed by the fast and skilful Kangaroos, who were coming off the bye.

"You would have seen blokes that were running at half rat-power, and their skills are compromised because of their injury and/or lack of ability to get out there and train," Harvey said.

"We had to the push the envelope [with underdone players like Mundy]; we had no option.

"I've never seen so much carnage in a playing group. There wasn't too much we could do to change the course of the game tonight. We were flat-out just keeping players on the ground.

"Without sounding like it's the reason we lost, we were pretty much hamstrung with what we could do.

"It's difficult. But I think we find out a lot about people and players during this time, and who's prepared to fight."

Although Fremantle has slipped to 10th on the ladder, having been overtaken by North Melbourne, Harvey isn't giving up on the season.

"Well, you've got to believe," he said after being asked about Freo's chances of making the finals.

"For whoever gets the opportunity to play against Collingwood next Friday night, that's the only option, and that's the attitude you want in your senior players."