FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir says it's not too hard to figure out how the Dockers have got their season back on track.

Saturday's grinding 11-point win over Gold Coast was their third straight victory and moves them to a strong 7-5 platform ahead of a bye.

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Following a horror 61-point defeat to St Kilda in round eight, Longmuir said his team fixed up its attitude and got back to basics.

The result? A narrow loss to Collingwood, followed by wins over Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide and the Suns.

After its latest triumph, Longmuir reflected on the turning point of Fremantle's early season.

"We showed up to Friday night footy and didn't perform the way we wanted to perform," he said.

"We made sure we were really clear on what makes us a good team. Strangely enough, people are still talking about our ball movement, but our contest, midfield and our team defence has gone to another level.

"We just felt like maybe against some of the lower clubs we didn't bring the same intensity we would have liked.

"Our best footy was against the better sides, which shows to me it was a little bit between the ears."

Longmuir said his team "rolled up the sleeves" in the final quarter against the top-four Gold Coast, with some desperate late acts indicative of its will to win.

Andrew Brayshaw wore a big hit from Daniel Rioli in the final 90 seconds to win a crucial free kick on the wing before Shai Bolton executed an inspirational run-down tackle a minute later that led to the game-clinching goal for Jye Amiss.

Sean Darcy returned from injury to present a one-two ruck tandem with Luke Jackson that had an interesting twist during the contest.

When Darcy played as the main man (he played just 50 per cent of game time), Jackson often played as a pure onballer, rather than his usual second home forward.

Longmuir said the use of the duo would be a "horses for courses" approach for the rest of the season.

"There's times when we need Luke in other areas … today, given their size in the midfield we thought when he wasn't in the ruck, he could spend more time around the footy, and with his pressure and hunt he could get the game going our way," he said.

"It's not going to be the same every week. We're trying to build flexibility in the team."

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick was disappointed to lose a third game of the season, but said Fremantle was far too good, particularly in the first quarter when it established a 20-point advantage.

He said the Suns' "giveaways", their unforced skill errors, were costly and proved the difference in the end.

"The pleasing thing for me … we did continue to fight," he said.

"They're better than their record reflects. We've just got some areas we need to get better in.

"We've got to remind ourselves we're 8-3. Today was disappointing, there's no doubt about that, but they're a really, really good side."