Justin Longmuir has blasted Fremantle as "not tough enough" after they opened their AFL season with a 78-point capitulation to Geelong.
The Dockers fell 10 goals behind late in the second term on Saturday at GMHBA Stadium, but four goals in six minutes from debutant Murphy Reid helped bring them back into the game.
Then they fell off the pace badly again, as Geelong mauled them with 10 goals to one in the last term.
Despite some significant absentees due to injury, Longmuir said Saturday's team was capable of much better.
He said some of the blame was on him for how the team prepared and added there would be plenty of review in the wake of such a poor round-one performance.
There are high hopes for the Dockers, but Longmuir had the look of a coach whose team is coming to the end of a long, ugly season.
"There's obviously a fair bit to get my head around. I just thought after the first five minutes, we weren't tough enough," he said.
"Their hunt and their pressure was at a level we couldn't handle and we couldn't apply the same pressure to them. It was really disappointing, obviously.
"We'll have to do a deep dive. I just feel like their pressure was at a level where we weren't used to, and weren't up to.
"We were on the back foot all day because of it. We have some work to do, clearly."
Fremantle ran out of legs in the last term in the heat, with Longmuir noting that was a result of them having to chase for much of the game.
But Longmuir added he shoulders some of the blame.
"We had enough experience out there. The team we put out today is capable of much better than that," he said.
"I put my hand up - I just clearly didn't prepare them the right way."
Longmuir added that once Geelong stepped up in the last quarter, his players did not adjust.
"Minus-20 contested ball in the last - the contest was one thing. They were way too easily able to get on the outside of us," he said.
"We just couldn't stop them getting to the outside of us.
"We just allowed it to be an open game for too long ... and that blew the scoreboard out."
The game started in the early afternoon - late morning Perth time - but Longmuir dismissed it as a factor.
"I'm not going to use that as an excuse," he said
