FREMANTLE is being urged to narrow its focus and ditch the worry as it aims to turn around a poor first month of the season.
The Dockers take a 1-3 record into Friday's twilight game against Gold Coast at Norwood Oval and are coming off a 39-point loss to Adelaide.
The Crows' 17.9 was also the first time Fremantle had conceded more than 100 points since late in the 2021 season.
Amid talk about "Freez-mantle" and "Slo-mo Freo", coach Justin Longmuir said mindset and not game style is the big issue.
Longmuir spoke on Wednesday about the "burden of expectation" after last year's top-eight finish.
He stressed that rather than thinking about the past or future, Fremantle must zero in on the Suns and Friday's must-win game.
"There's a little bit of second-guessing (ourselves) - whether to go, whether not to go," he said.
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"We're not as present as we need to be. We're not in the moment as much as we need to be.
"It's different for everyone - sometimes we're trying to give the ball before we actually pick the ball it up.
"So we just need to make sure we live the moment a bit more ... execute our next moment, rather than focusing on the scoreboard or form or mistakes."
The Dockers are poised to make changes with defender Corey Wagner, forward Sam Sturt and midfielder Will Brodie joining the squad in Adelaide this week.
Luke Ryan (knee) will play and Michael Frederick (eye) should return.
Longmuir said what Fremantle is doing inside 50m, not ball movement, had hampered them.
"We are trying to take the game on - our connection inside 50 has been poor," he said.
"We haven't made the most of our fast-play opportunities."
At the other end of the ground, Longmuir added their defenders had lost their way against the Crows.
"We just probably went away from playing our way, clearly. We went a bit insular and went back to a bit more one-on-one back there than what we'd like," he said.
Contested ball has been another criticism, but Longmuir said uncontested possession at times had also been an issue.
"There are opportunities we gave Adelaide on the back of not being able to pick the ball up - some of it being uncontested ball as much as contested," he said.
"There's no doubt, we need to be tougher."
But above all, the Dockers coach remains upbeat.
"I'm really confident that it can turn, and turn quick. But like I said to the players, it's not going to turn on one person - we need everyone to improve their footy," he said.
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He said Nat Fyfe is making progress and back running on turf as he nurses a foot injury.
"He had such a strong pre-season, to miss the early part of the year is frustrating for all of us," Longmuir said.
"He still believes he has a strong body of work behind him ... if he can get over this little hump and get his foot fixed, he feels like he can have a prolonged crack at it.
"He's frustrated, but optimistic."
