WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson has conceded the Eagles could lose up to seven players from the team that lost to Fremantle in Western Derby 56, with small forward Jamie Cripps hospitalised on Sunday night with a broken ankle.
Star defender Jeremy McGovern suffered a hamstring injury that Simpson said was serious, while captain Luke Shuey was substituted out with what also appeared to be a hamstring injury, with the coach unsure of the midfielder's status.
DOCKERS v EAGLES Full match coverage and stats
Defender Alex Witherden will need to be assessed after a head knock in a collision with Fremantle midfielder Jaeger O'Meara, having run with the flight of the ball into the contest and taken heavy contact.
Premiership forward Liam Ryan played on with his left knee strapped after crashing to the Optus Stadium turf having flown for a mark, with the Eagles left with 18 fit players when his night eventually ended.
"I think we're probably going to lose six or seven players from today," Simpson said, without revealing the other concerns that emerged from a courageous performance that saw the Eagles fight on and cut the margin to just two points early in the fourth quarter.
"I said to them at three-quarter time, in juniors you don't want to come off, well that's happening this quarter.
NINE THINGS WE LEARNED Unsung tall could be Pies' most pivotal recruit
"In the end, we got overwhelmed. They were a better side and I tip my hat to Fremantle ... but we'll take some real positives.
"We'll draw upon some of our players who played WAFL Eagles yesterday, but we're glass half full on today.
"We're not crying poor, we're not complaining. It's just collision and soft tissue combination ... I thought that we held our own for as long as we could."
Simpson, who coached from the boundary in the second half to better support his players, said premiership midfielder Elliot Yeo was a chance to return from a calf injury for next Sunday's clash against Melbourne.
BARRETT Hawkins emblematic of Geelong's very real problems
Tall defender Harry Edwards would be a likely replacement for McGovern, while midfielders Greg Clark, Connor West, Jai Culley and Xavier O'Neill are likely to push their cases.
Sunday's result was a step forward for Fremantle, coach Justin Longmuir said, but the Dockers could improve significantly on what they produced after moving to 1-2 after three rounds.
The third quarter, which saw West Coast dominate contested ball (46-30) and kick 3.5 to 1.3, left a sour taste in the coach's mouth in an otherwise impressive performance.
"Clearly, I got the boys into a huddle at three-quarter time. I wasn't saying well done," Longmuir said.
"[I was] disappointed we went away from our brand of footy. To expose an opposition in that sort of sense you need to be able to win the ball and we couldn't win it.
"I thought we were steady at points in the quarter, but it just got stuck in our back half a bit too much in certain periods of the game."
Longmuir was pleased with the forward line's improvement after a scratchy start to the season, with Michael Walters (four goals) leading the way and key targets Luke Jackson and Jye Amiss booting two goals each.
Jackson's improved performance was "reward for effort", with the tall star rotated through midfield, ruck and forward roles and finishing with 12 disposals, seven tackles and 17 hit-outs.
"He's been getting his hands to a lot of aerial contests and he still dropped a few today that he would love to take," Longmuir said.
"The first goal was special, but the one in the last quarter when he just launched at the footy and marked at the highest point, that's what we've seen all summer.
"He just needs to keep putting himself in the right positions and keep rocking up and they'll stick."
Defender Heath Chapman was the only injury concern to come out of the match for Fremantle after suffering a low-grade calf injury.
The Dockers face Adelaide and Gold Coast in back-to-back matches in South Australia, with the club planning to take a squad for the opening match and then fly reinforcements over if needed.
