Fremantle defender Hayden Young says Dockers at best when hunting teams after defensive lapse against Swans

Fremantle must learn to deal with the pressure of expectation after becoming hunted in their loss to Sydney on Saturday night.

The Swans have shaken the race for the top eight right up after defeating the Dockers by 17-points at their Optus Stadium fortress.

Fremantle will still finish round 18 in the top four but only two games split them and Richmond in eighth place, who they face on Friday night.

Dockers defender Hayden Young said Fremantle were expecting the best from their opposition each week after assuming newfound contender status.

But Fremantle still want to approach each match with aggressive intent to unlock their best.

“Every week we know teams are going to be bringing their best. I don’t think it was a reality check,” Young said.

“We’ve known for the past few weeks to expect the best from our opposition and Sydney brought their best. It’s front of mind going into the last few games.

“Although we’re in a good position, we want to be hunting teams as well.

“We pride ourselves on our pressure and our contest. We don’t want to be the hunted, we want to be hunting still. That’s when we’re playing our best footy.”

Young said the Dockers were disappointed with how their team defence fared against the surging Swans, allowing Sydney to unpick their defence with precision kicking.

Sydney’s 11.16 (82) total is the equal-third highest total Fremantle have conceded this season, Young conceding the Dockers failed to respond to the Swans change before it was too late.

Griffin Logue managed to keep Lance Franklin to just one goal after kicking eight and six majors in his last two outings at Optus but the likes of Tom Papley (2.2), Errol Gulden (2.1) and Joel Amartey (2.0) cashed in.

“When it came to setting up our team defence, we didn’t bring the right energy,” Young said.

“We weren’t organised or urgent enough. It’s something we pride ourselves on so I’m sure we’ll rectify it pretty quickly.

“As the game went on, it slipped away from us a bit. They controlled the ball and were able to move it through our defence far too easily.

“It’s something we didn’t recognise early enough and by the stage we did, they were back on top.

“We were pretty disappointed with how we defended but it didn’t help the ball was in our back half for large parts of the game.”

A top-four spot is still on offer for Fremantle in the final five games of the season but Young said the Dockers couldn’t afford any more lapses.

“We’ve put together a solid season of footy but it’s not over,” he said.

“We’re not comfortable. We’re striving to win every game in the back half of the year.”