Dockers coach lauds desperation in narrow away win

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir reckons it was a triumph for ticker over tactics.

"We probably held on not through system and method, we held on through desperation," he said after a gritty two-point away win over Adelaide on Friday night.

The Dockers banked a third win from four games in a thriller that Longmuir said evidenced a growing maturity at his club.

Freo were cruising at Adelaide Oval when 34 points some 10 minutes into the third quarter.

But the Crows booted seven consecutive goals to take a seven-point lead midway through the last quarter.

The Dockers responded with the last two goals of the game for an 11.12 (78) to 11.10 (76) win, learning their lesson from a 10-point defeat in Geelong in round one.

"We had a similar situation - an opposition team coming at us, crowd getting involved in the game - and I just thought we played really safe against Geelong," Longmuir said.

"There were opportunities to really drive the game but we just played too safe and it just plays into the opposition's hands.

"So I thought we were better at it (against Adelaide).

"It's not a finished product ... but we had some moments were we could have just succumbed and kicked it long but we actually really drove and the game opened up for us.

"It was a step forward in that sense."

Longmuir said his club's stellar start of the season was a confidence-booster.

"You try and look for improvements over the off-season, you go to work on a few of those things," he said.

"And it's good to get some reward early in the season.

"It gives players confidence that what you have been working on is coming to fruition.

"Players are really clear that we have got some things to work on in our game in terms of consistency.

"But there's a real strong belief in what we do. And when we get it right, when we get the game on our terms, we're pretty hard to stop."