Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir admits the decision to rest captain Alex Pearce may have cost them victory over Melbourne after the Demons charged home to win by four points in a MCG thriller.

The Dockers led by 15 points during the final quarter but couldn’t hold off Melbourne’s surge. They Demons took 14 marks inside 50 for the day, which was the most by any team against Fremantle since round four. The 17.11 (113) to 17.7 (109) victory also saw Melbourne kick the highest score by any team against the Dockers since round one last year.

A candid Longmuir said Fremantle failed to cover for Pearce’s leadership and defensive skill.

“Clearly he would have helped. He saves us a goal, which probably wins us a game. We probably lacked lacked a bit of leadership down there and weren’t able to turn the tide,” Longmuir said.

“We were average behind the ball with our back six. Marks are one thing I thought were poor at ground level all day.

“We went to the side of contests. They’re a really good crumbing team, and we just refused to see through those crumbing plays.

“Then for Petty to take that mark in goal square in a pack, pretty much uncontested late in the game, we’ve got to get body on him in that moment and get that through.”

The Dockers have been reluctant to rest players this season despite managing Brennan Cox and Shai Bolton in recent weeks due to them carrying injuries. Cox returned to the team to play alongside Oscar McDonald as Pearce watched on from Perth.

Harry Petty got revenge on Fremantle after he was mocked with a head rub in Perth earlier in the year by kicking three goals. Petty kicked two majors in the final term, including one from a towering pack mark. He rubbed his own head after one of his goals.

Longmuir said Pearce was genuinely rested given he is 31 and has already played the highest number of games in a season since 2023. The Dockers have already secured a top-two finish and have a stranglehold on top spot.

Longmuir said it was important to look beyond each week with Pearce and declared they may have rested him even if they were fighting for a finals spot.

“Everyone knows Pearce’s injury history. He’s got some continuity in his game, and he’s 200 cm, and we thought we would manage him a travel and an away trip before the back end of the season. We might have done that if we were fifth on the ladder or sixth on the ladder,” he said.

“I don’t think today’s down to us getting comfortable or that we’ve just dropped back a little bit. We played a really good side who’s been beaten once here. We were in front with eight minutes to go, and didn’t quite handle the last the last period of the game well enough.

“We had some players down on form today and not at their best. So we’ll need them to get going.”

While the backline struggled, Fremantle’s forwards created history as Jye Amiss and Josh Treacy became the first Dockers since Matthew Pavlich in 2012 to kick 50 goals in a season. The key forwards all had big days. Amiss kicked five goals, Treacy booted two and also set up his teammates while Pat Voss kicked four goals as they again highlighted their power inside 50.