Finals do strange things to athletes.

The skills do not change. The ground is the same size, the football is the same shape and the goals remain in the same place. Yet everything can feel different because every mistake appears to carry a greater consequence.

Fremantle experienced that against Hawthorn.

After finishing on top of the ladder with 19 wins, including a 14-game winning streak, the Dockers entered the finals having earned every possible advantage. They were playing at Optus Stadium, where they had not lost all season, in front of a packed home crowd and with the security of a double chance.

Hawthorn took advantage of the occasion and Fremantle seemed burdened by it.

The Dockers looked hesitant, their forward line was ineffective and the freedom that had carried the team throughout the season appeared to disappear.

I have experienced how dramatically that can change as an athlete and within a team.

You can play with complete freedom throughout a season or tournament. Your role is clear, your mind is clear and you trust yourself to react to whatever is in front of you. Then finals arrive and, without deliberately changing anything, the thought process can become different.

Suddenly, you are thinking about what might happen rather than what is happening.

What if the opposition starts well? What if I make a mistake? What if we waste the opportunity we have worked all season to earn? I really want to win the grand final.

The pressure is always there in professional sport, to be honest. The difference comes when players begin placing a higher price on certain games. A final feels more important, every mistake seems more costly and the mind starts searching for different answers.

Players can begin trying things they have not done all season simply because it is a final. They force the play, become too careful or try to produce something extraordinary. Instead of trusting the game that got them there, they start thinking about everything that could go wrong.

The responsibility does not sit only with the players. Fremantle’s coaching group also has an important role this week because it was outcoached by Hawthorn.

The Hawks took away Fremantle’s preferred way of moving the football and prevented their key forwards from influencing the game. Hawthorn appeared prepared for what Fremantle would bring, while the Dockers were unable to find an effective response once the game began moving against them.

Justin Longmuir and his coaches must learn from that, but they also need to be careful not to over correct. There will be tactical adjustments required against Geelong, particularly with how they enter their forward line and handle the Cats’ experienced defenders. However, changing too much could reinforce the feeling among the players that what they have done all season is no longer good enough.

The coaches must provide solutions without creating confusion. They need to give the players clarity, reinforce their roles and restore the confidence that appeared to be missing against Hawthorn.

This is where coaching in finals becomes about more than tactics. Coaches set the emotional temperature of the group. If they appear anxious or start desperately searching for answers, that uncertainty can quickly reach the players. If they remain calm, honest and decisive, the team is more likely to respond in the same way.

Their skills have not suddenly changed, even if it looked that way against Hawthorn. You do not finish on top of the ladder, win 19 games and then become a bad football side overnight.

The Dockers now face a different kind of pressure against Geelong. The loss to the Hawks did not end their season, but the next loss will.

They can use that reality to their advantage. There is no longer any need to protect their position on top of the ladder or think about earning a home preliminary final. That opportunity has gone. Their situation is now very clear, win and continue, or lose and the season is over.

That clarity can free a team. But it can also have the opposite effect.

If Fremantle tighten up, try too hard or move away from what worked throughout the season, the Geelong game could follow the same path as the Hawthorn loss.

There is also a different level of outside noise surrounding the Dockers now. The support behind them during these finals is enormous, and it brings an expectation the players may not be accustomed to carrying.

Personally, I would love to see Fremantle beat the east-coast teams and have a genuine crack at the premiership.

That support can feel like another pressure, but the players can also use it as motivation. They can use the disappointment of the Hawthorn loss and all the negative things being said about whether they can handle finals.

It is another reason to show they are capable and good enough.

However, motivation must not become desperation. There is a difference between responding to criticism and trying to prove everyone wrong with every possession. If each player tries to win the game individually, Fremantle will move further away from the connected football that made them successful.

I hope the Dockers remember why they are there and why they finished on top. They need to remember the feeling that got them there, the confidence, clarity and freedom with which they played throughout the season.

They don’t need to try harder or suddenly find something better.

Fremantle simply need to play the game they play best.