Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says his younger players are learning valuable lessons after the Dockers snapped their AFL travel hoodoo on Saturday in grand style with a 57-point victory over Carlton.
Having lost their previous five matches this season away from the comforts of Optus Stadium by an average margin of 55 points, the Dockers blew the Blues off Etihad Stadium with a 12-goals-to-nil opening half.
Back after serving a one-week suspension, skipper Nat Fyfe played a key role in the victory, as did fellow experienced hands Lachie Neale and David Mundy.
But there was also plenty to like about the efforts of youngsters like Andrew Brayshaw and Stefan Giro, while developing tall duo Michael Apeness and Brennan Cox continued to show encouraging signs.
"You write your own story in this business," said Lyon.
"It's a performance industry and today we performed and we all feel a bit better about ourselves.
"We're really about development and growth.
"We'd love the win-loss ledger (which nows sits at 6-7) to be a bit better but it's not the singular focus.
"We've only won the last two weeks because it's been an outcome of improving our preparation, improving our competition and improving our system."
The younger Dockers getting the job done on the road was clearly another step in the right direction, even if Lyon insisted it was not as big an issue for him as the raw numbers suggested.
"They start to get a routine, they start to handle the time- zone difference, they start to handle the four-hour flight, their nutrition requirements, all the little things they've got to do," he said.
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