Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has revealed players were "very close to not playing" in Friday's match against Sydney in the wake of former Dockers forward Cam McCarthy's passing.
McCarthy, who died on Thursday night, spent four seasons with the club after joining from GWS at the end of 2016.
The 29-year-old played alongside a large portion of Fremantle's current list and featured under Longmuir during the coach's first season with the Dockers.
Captain Alex Pearce and veteran Nat Fyfe were brought to tears prior to Friday's game during a moment tributing McCarthy's life, with the club wrapping its arms around those who knew the former forward throughout the day.
A number of Fremantle players came close to stepping away from playing ahead of the match, while defender Ethan Hughes was taken off the emergency list due to the difficult circumstances.
"It's been a really tough 24 hours for Cam's friends and family, the Freo family, and some of our players have done it tough. I was really proud of the way they were able to go out there and compete tonight given the difficulties of the last 24 hours," Longmuir said after the loss.
"I'm really proud of the way the club came together and put our arms around those who are hurting, and I was really proud of those players for going out there and competing the way they did.
"Joe Brierty did a great job getting around to those who we knew were close to Cam. Visiting those guys and making sure that they felt safe to make a call if they wanted to play or not.
"When we got to the game we acknowledged it. Post-game we made sure we put our arms around those in our four walls that are hurting.
"We had players that were very close to not playing. I'm proud of the way they went out and competed in difficult circumstances.
"This is why you play team sports, so you can go through the tough times together and you've got people to lean on."
The Dockers would lose the game to the Swans by eight goals after the travelling side managed to kick 10 goals without a behind into the early stages of the second half.
Inversely, Fremantle booted 4.15 for the game, with 10 of their first 11 scoring shots resulting in behinds.
Longmuir said he was immensely proud of his group, believing the recent tragedy didn't impact the playing group's performance.
"That's what makes me proud," Longmuir said.
"If you look at three-quarter time and you look at the stats, we were up in contested ball, we were up in inside 50s, we'd had more shots from stoppage," he said.
"If you had given me that at the start of the night, I would have taken it.
"So clearly at one stage they'd kicked 10 straight and we kicked 1.9. We had 26 shots on goal for I think 18 scoring shots and eight missed shots.
"That was the story of the game."
Fremantle sit in eighth spot on the ladder and will fall out of the top eight if Collingwood manage to defeat West Coast on Sunday.
The Dockers' next game will come at Marvel Stadium against St Kilda on Saturday, May 18.