BROWNLOW medallist Nat Fyfe and every one of his Fremantle teammates must improve for the Dockers to stay in contention for their maiden flag next season, utility Nick Suban says.

Some critics have written off Freo's chances in 2016, despite Ross Lyon's men finishing on top of the ladder last year and losing a hard-fought preliminary final to eventual premiers Hawthorn by 27 points.

While Suban is confident there's plenty of upside at the port club, he said the onus is on every Docker to step up.

And the 25-year-old is determined to help lead the way by becoming a more complete footballer after 129 games in purple.

“Everyone has to improve and I am no different,” Suban told The West Australian.

“I go out to improve my game every year and I think there are certain aspects of my game that I have improved and certain aspects that I haven’t.

“There is no perfect player in the AFL, and at our club even our Brownlow medallist Nathan Fyfe has plenty of improvement in him. 

“Every part of my game can improve — my fitness, skills and structural things. That is what pre-seasons are for and I will be endeavouring to get better this pre-season.” 

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The Dockers have bolstered their line-up with the addition of wayward star Harley Bennell and they've put extra emphasis on sharpening their skills this pre-season – believing they fell short of Hawthorn's benchmark last year. 

Ex-Hawk superboot Brent Guerra has joined Fremantle's coaching panel and implemented extra kicking drills, while retired Hawthorn ruckman David Hale has also been added to Lyon's restructured coaching group. 

“Hawthorn and a few other teams have set the standard with their skills and their ball use. We want to improve that,” Suban said. 

“That has been a massive focus so far and I am sure it will be a massive focus in the future. We will just keep working on it.”