Fourth-placed Fremantle conceded the first five goals of the match on Sunday night, giving Richmond’s midfielders time and space on Subiaco Oval.
A 27-point deficit late in the first term eventually became a comfortable win, but Harvey wasn’t paying his side too many compliments post match.
“It was a scrappy game, probably reflective of a big build-up to an Anzac game and two young sides,” he said.
“At the end we walk away from a game where we didn’t play very well, but that can be reflective of the opposition, and I think Richmond’s improving.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but if we can finish up winning a game by 40-odd points then I think that’s the point.
“We had to dig, because Richmond looked very good in the first quarter.”
Fremantle entered Sunday’s clash on the back of an encouraging fortnight against last year’s grand finalists that netted a win over Geelong and an encouraging loss to St Kilda.
That, combined with a big build-up to the 15th annual Len Hall tribute match, could have left his side flat, Harvey said.
“It was a combination of things,” he said. “We didn’t kick straight (and) there were some undisciplined free kicks.
“Some of our structures fell down because we probably weren’t as coordinated as we would have like to have been - some young players just found themselves in the wrong position at the wrong time.”
Fremantle has a seven-day break ahead of next Sunday’s western derby clash with West Coast, and midfielders Rhys Palmer and Nick Suban are both possible inclusions.
“[Palmer] presses for selection, as he did this week - he was quite close,” Harvey said.
“He’s working hard and if he keeps working hard at WAFL level then he’ll get a look at some stage.
“I’d say [Suban] is 50-50 at this stage, but we’ll just see how he goes throughout the course of the week.”
