After being down by 23 points at half time and outclassed all over the field, Harvey said his players took the game on to turn things around in captain Matthew Pavlich's 200th game.
West Coast kicked itself out of a winning position with a final tally of 9.20, but Harvey said the win was driven from within Fremantle, rather than West Coast handing them the four points with a terrible second half.
"You can look at it one or two ways – you could say that, or you could say that something came form within our team to provide the opportunity and the momentum and the belief," Harvey said.
"That came with that just feeling and sensing that an opposition was maybe just losing control of the game. I think that's what happened today."
After being well held in the first half, Pavlich lifted in the second to finish with 23 touches and a crucial fourth-quarter goal.
But while Pavlich did his damage in the middle, Harvey said he had the star pencilled in for a move forward after half time.
"I had him in the forward line at the half time break, and he said 'No, I'm ready to go in the midfield'," Harvey said.
"He actually coached himself after half time. He wanted to take the game on, and when your captain says that, you let things go.
"It made the guys appreciate what it’s like to play with a guy like Matthew."
West Coast dominated the contested football and the clearances in the first half and went inside 50 30 times.
They were suffocating Freo with their zone and Harvey said a more attacking approach was required.
"We were having trouble with West Coast's zone and moving the ball through that before half time," he said.
"We ... structurally changed a few things – we were prepared to take the zone on a lot more and with that came freedom of ball movement and some excitement from the whole group."
First-year player Stephen Hill was as impressive as anyone on the field with his ability to break the lines and kick long.
The No.3 pick in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft finished with 21 possessions and two goals including a final quarter effort that gave Fremantle its first lead.
"We've been really happy with the way he's evolved in his first six games," Harvey said. "He's really coming of age."
