FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon has paid tribute to the club's "magnificent" on-field leaders after the Dockers ground out a crucial seven-point win over Adelaide in the absence of several key players.
The Dockers arrived in the City of Churches minus a host of stars, including nippy forward Michael Walters, ruckman Aaron Sandilands and skipper Matthew Pavlich, yet they managed to rise above a near full-strength Adelaide line up.
The Crows hit the lead early in the final term and looked capable of riding the crowd's support to victory but Fremantle wrestled it back and held on to remain in the competition's top four.
Michael Barlow and David Mundy were strong performers in the midfield while acting captain Luke McPharlin marshalled a defence that restricted the Crows to just eight goals.
"I thought it was an emphatic response," Lyon said.
"[We] displayed a fair bit of football character and our leaders stood up ... it was a strong, positive finish."
Lyon put his side's ability to rise above injury concerns down to the guidance of the experienced players on the club's list.
"I think it's about leadership, it's about everyone coming and being prepared, it's about exposing the whole list," he said.
"We had four first or second-year players out there today ... and they can't do it without magnificent senior players around them."
McPharlin echoed his coach's sentiments, going as far as labelling Fremantle's culture the best he had seen in his 12 years at the club.
He described Lyon's coaching style as "fairly simple" but "very effective".
"In terms of the culture around the club at the moment, it's certainly the strongest it's been," McPharlin said.
"I'm really enjoying playing under Ross and the philosophies he brings to the group and it's just a really strong culture."
The Dockers expect Pavlich to be one of several returning players for their next game against the Brisbane Lions in round 12.
The captain, Walters and midfielder Lachie Neale are all in the final stages of their rehab and should be available for the Dockers' first game after next week's bye.
The coach was less optimistic on the health of defender-turned-forward Alex Silvagni, who was a late withdrawal from Saturday's game with an ankle injury.
The 25-year-old trained fully on Friday, but wasn't confident enough in his ankle to play.
Lyon hoped he would be able to manage the injury but didn't rule out surgery to fix the issue.
"He trained fully, gave him a fitness test and he passed, he was close – he was in," Lyon said.
"[We] left the final decision to himself and he woke up, just in the end lacked some confidence.
"He's got an issue that we want to see if we can manage ... potentially something invasive, but we're trying to work through that."
