IS FREMANTLE'S ship sinking? Or can Ross Lyon steer the Dockers to safer waters?

After two rounds, Freo's normally watertight defence has been breached.

Leaks started springing up in a worrying loss to the Western Bulldogs at their Etihad Stadium fortress and now alarm bells are ringing after Gold Coast sliced through the Dockers on their own turf.

Lyon hasn't hit the panic button yet, but for the first time since 2012 – his first year at the club – Fremantle's opponents have crashed through the 100-point barrier in back-to-back matches.

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In the wake of the shock loss to the Suns, Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe told AFL.com.au the players' confidence had been shaken by their inability to implement attacking tweaks built into the game-plan.

Lyon said it was "really clear" that changes at centre bounces had failed and terrible skill errors were exposing his side's lack of leg speed.

With a crunch Western Derby looming, the Dockers need to fix their problems fast.

Not since North Melbourne managed to finish fourth in 2007 has a side recovered from a 0-3 start to reach finals.

It's too early to write-off last year's minor premiers, but the stats reveal a defensive meltdown.

Centre bounces, for so long the Dockers' strength with Nat Fyfe and David Mundy feeding off giant ruckman Aaron Sandilands' silver service, have suddenly become a glaring weakness.

Last year, Freo prevented scores from centre bounces better than any other side.

After two rounds this season, they have fallen off their perch and are ranked dead last. 

Despite Sandilands' return from suspension in round two, Fremantle coughed-up 37 points to the Suns directly from the middle – the most ever by a Lyon-coached team in his 220 games at the helm of St Kilda and Freo.

"We changed our system. I think we'll have a good look at it. It's sorted us two weeks in a row, so it probably doesn't suit our lack of leg speed," Lyon said after the Suns loss.

"We tried for a little bit more out of there, but it hurt us early last week and it's clearly hurt us again today."

Popular theory suggests tighter interpretation of the deliberate out of bounds rule and the exclusion zone around the mark have accelerated Freo's downfall.

Lyon dismissed the notion in his press conference on Saturday, pointing out he was involved in those rules discussions.

But stoppages in Freo's opening two games have tumbled (down from an average of 75.5 last year to 45.5) and, with the ball in open play more often, they've struggled to contain their opponents.

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Turnovers haven't helped their cause, with the Dockers repeatedly opened up on the counterattack by the Suns.

Despite a pre-season focus on kicking and the introduction of new assistant coaches David Hale and Brent Guerra from Hawthorn, the Dockers are butchering the ball.

Their disposal efficiency has plummeted from the competition's third-best (68 per cent) in 2015, to third-worst (62.2) this year.

And defending from those turnovers has become more important than ever in an era of 'slingshot' footy.

Last season, the Dockers only conceded a score from one in every five turnovers, the fifth-best record in the AFL, but they've since slipped to 15th (conceding from 26.5 per cent of turnovers).

Lyon didn't hide from the fact "there were some terrible decisions and skill execution" in his side's defeat to Gold Coast, and Freo's fans were shocked into near-silence watching the upset unfolding before their eyes.

However, Freo has now lost three of its past five matches at Domain Stadium – having won nine of the previous 10 – and have been beaten in six of their last eight games anywhere.

Despite dominating clearances (44-31), winning the inside 50 count (60-51), beating up the Suns at contested ball (+36) and booting 100 points themselves – a step in the right direction – the Dockers still lost by 26 points on Saturday night.

It was the first time Lyon's Dockers have been beaten after kicking the ton, and Gold Coast's longest-serving players hailed their groundbreaking victory over Fremantle and first at Domain Stadium as the best in the club's short history.

It's set the Suns back on a journey towards a maiden finals berth.

But, at the moment, the Dockers look all at sea.