David Mundy says Fremantle's players take "some responsibility" for their 42-point loss to Geelong, after coach Ross Lyon blamed himself for not drilling his side well enough to face the Cats.
In his post-match press conference, Lyon suggested skills were not the problem, instead saying he could have prepared Freo better to handle Geelong's "mechanisms".
Speaking on Tuesday, Mundy said the team had to shoulder part of the blame.
"Ross is...trying to protect us a little bit but we're all in it together," Mundy said.
"We certainly take some responsibility for it as well, at the end of the day we're out there making the decisions."
Mundy said Freo’s skill level hadn't been emphasised in the wake of the defeat.
The former skipper agreed with Lyon's analysis that Geelong hurt them on the scoreboard by too easily launching attacks from Fremantle's forward line.
The Cats scored 10.4 from turnovers for the match, compared to Freo’s 4.4.
"I think Ross' post-match analysis hit the nail on the head and we've seen a little bit of it in the review today," Mundy said.
"We really gave the ball back to them a lot by allowing them to get back on us and really drive their offensive plays from their backline.
"Certainly we didn't help ourselves crowding around the ball too much and leaving their backmen free."
While Mundy acknowledged pressure for spots after strong performances by the likes of Harley Balic (33 disposals, one goal) and Matt Taberner (five goals) at Peel on the weekend, he retained confidence in the 22 who went down to the Cats.
Fremantle hit the road in round two taking on the in-form Port Adelaide.
