FREMANTLE'S task of halting its damaging run of poor first quarters will not be easy when it takes on the fast-starting Essendon in a crunch game at Optus Stadium on Saturday night. 

The 8-5 Bombers travel to Perth having won their past four opening terms during a 4-0 run that has them to sixth on the ladder and put them in a strong position to play finals. 

The Dockers, meanwhile, produced their worst opening quarter of the season against Greater Western Sydney in round 14 and took their 2023 record in first terms to a League-worst 1-12. 

Their only 'win' in an opening quarter came against Hawthorn in round eight, with the finals aspirants forced to come from behind in every other game as their season now hangs in the balance at 6-7. 

The Dockers have appeared keen to avoid placing undue focus on their slow starts and giving the team a single reason, or 'out', for back-to-back performances that have much wider issues. 

Fixing the starts and avoiding the constant quarter-time re-sets, however, must become a focus to halt a trend that has contributed to their disappointing season.  

"The first quarter was a part of it, but that would be underselling the whole story," Longmuir said after the loss against the Giants, which saw Adam Kingsley's team race to a 23-point lead at quarter-time. 

"There's been some disappointing first quarters but there's also been some first quarters where we feel like we've either got off to a decent start and it's just been the back end of the quarter that's let us down or we haven't made the most of our opportunities." 

Leadership group member Sam Switkowski reflected the coach's view this week when he said: "It's probably not as bad as the stat looks. There's been elements of our first quarters that have been good, we just haven't finished off well."

Switkowski also highlighted the red-time goals, which have been an issue for the Dockers, including three alone in the first quarter against Richmond and another against the Giants. 

While there are more issues than just how the team starts, Switkowski did concede there was value in applying early scoreboard pressure and said fixing the slow starts was part of what the Dockers were focusing on. 

"It's certainly something we're looking at. We're trying to figure out how we can better our first quarters and put scoreboard pressure on the opposition," the forward said. 

The 0.1 to 4.1 scoreline against the Giants was reflective of the Dockers' slow starts during last year's finals series and a longer trend through the second half of last season, losing 10 opening quarters in the final 14 games.

In September, the Dockers kicked just 0.1 in the first quarters of each of their finals, mounting a remarkable comeback against the Western Bulldogs in week one but failing to recover against a more experienced Collingwood the following week. 

The Bulldogs win, according to Longmuir, taught the Dockers about never being out of a game and fighting until the end. It's a trait of the team that is on show when at their best. 

The Magpies loss, meanwhile, underlined the importance of avoiding slow starts, especially in finals. 

There is no doubt Fremantle's past fortnight has exposed more issues than simply slow starts, and the absence of gun ruckman Sean Darcy and how that has impacted the team's structure has been significant. 

Longmuir has also put the focus back on the coaching group and the way the team is being prepared during the week.

The Dockers' response against Essendon will be one of the fascinations of what shapes as a key game for both clubs.