FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon has praised his side's ability to fight out yet another match until the final siren, with the Dockers' dominant fourth quarter against Port Adelaide taking them a step closer to September.

Trailing by a point at three-quarter time, Freo surged past the Power, booting 3.4 to no score.

The Dockers commanded inside 50s (20-5) and clearances (15-3) when the match was on the line and have now won the most last terms in the competition (nine).

"I don't think there's been a game where we haven't gone to the end. We're the best last-quarter team in the competition, to my understanding," Lyon said.

"You don't hope your way forward - we believe in ourselves and we've got to keep working hard."

SONNY STARS AGAIN Full match coverage and stats

But the Dockers didn't have things all their own way in the first three quarters with some tactical tweaks helping them power home.
"I think you put it in context, I thought their third quarter was dominant, they still had 20 entries.

"We spoke at three-quarter time, get our clearance work right, particularly around the ground and just go a little bit more direct with the ball. We were probably going around a little bit too much.
"I thought around the ball they really got to work, were hard and tough, we took ground, went in and put them under pressure.

"I thought both teams committed to the physical contest."

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Michael Walters was the hero again for Fremantle with six goals, but young ruckman Sean Darcy stood tall in the last quarter against Port ruck duo Paddy Ryder and Scott Lycett with 11 hit-outs to 10.

"It is a big ask. I thought he competed, there will be plenty of improvement in him, but we picked him to do the job and he needed to do the job. I don't think he was perfect, but I think he competed," Lyon said.

"The thing about AFL football, it's so elite, he'll enjoy the moment then getting his head around taking on Max Gawn.

"It's pretty daunting, isn't it?"

Darcy was playing his first game since round two after Rory Lobb went down with a foot fracture, while Griffin Logue (24 disposals) and Stephen Hill (12) did their jobs after long stints out of the side.

WATCH Ross Lyon's full post-match press conference

"Alex Pearce (ankle), Adam Cerra (illness) and Rory Lobb have been fantastic over the last, really the year, so they needed to come in and hold their end up and I thought they did that well," Lyon said.

"Everyone's going to get challenged for injuries and depth. We were relatively confident it could be done, but those boys stood up with the help of their teammates and got it done.

"It's never one person."

The Dockers are now 7-5 and a real prospect of playing finals for the first time since 2015, with a clash against battling Melbourne next round at the MCG and five more games at Optus Stadium.