Fremantle lost in-form key defender Luke McPharlin late in the first quarter to what the coach said was a medial ligament injury, while David Mundy (knee) and Greg Broughton (foot) will also be assessed.
Harvey said his side, which was out-tackled 91-67 and comprehensively beaten by a stronger team at the stoppages, came crashing back to Earth after a fairytale 6-1 start to the year.
“I thought we made too many errors [and] turnovers, and there was a lot of fumbling by our guys,” the coach said after the match.
“They were quick to hit you with the counterpunch and they spread really quickly. That was reflected with some easy goals that they got.
“[There were] too many easy goals on the back of our turnovers and fumbling [and] some of it was fundamental.
“You’re an injury or two away from just being brought back to Earth quickly and we were tonight.”
While McPharlin didn’t return, Mundy played through his injury but had little impact on the game, finishing with 13 possessions and no clearances.
“He made a judgement on whether he was right or not and he told us that he wanted to come back on,” Harvey said. “Hopefully it’s only a week that he might miss, but we don’t know."
Harvey said the side missed Mundy’s influence at the stoppages, where he has shone this season, with a host of Magpies midfielders nullifying ruckman Aaron Sandilands’ dominance.
Sandilands was Fremantle’s best, finishing with 43 hit-outs, nine clearances and 25 possessions. But without support at ground level, the combined influence of Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams and Luke Ball was inevitably greater.
“It’s a good challenge for the group now when you have a little bit of momentum taken away from you and how you rebound from that,” Harvey said.
