Fremantle coach Mark Harvey said Sunday's 43-point loss to St Kilda was one of its most disappointing this season.

The Dockers coach said he'd been encouraged by some good performances over the previous four matches, where the club had won three of four games, its one loss being a brave four-point defeat by Sydney.

But, Harvey felt his players had taken a step backwards against St Kilda, saying they hadn't paid attention to basic things like manning up, as they gave up a 16-point second-quarter lead, allowing the Saints to kick 11 goals to two in the second half.

"(I) just thought at times today, the players weren't demanding on each enough when St Kilda was just kicking the ball in," said Harvey after the match.

"So, hence they had a lot of uncontested marks and they had easy pathways to goal."

"The game's not that difficult from just a basic thing like manning up when they've got the ball (but) we have too many guys sit back and spectate when that happens."

"We just allowed them to do what they wanted to do too easy and whenever we looked like getting them on the counter attack, there was fumbling and lack of composure and understanding between each other."

Harvey said the performance was especially poor considering the club was honouring former skipper Peter Bell, who retired in July after 286 matches for Fremantle and North Melbourne.

"Peter spoke from the heart before the game. He didn't want to have a farewell himself, he's one of those guys (who) didn't like the attention of playing a last game."

"So he spoke to the guys about the day itself and what he wanted from them and that didn't happen."

One player Harvey excused, though, was young gun Rhys Palmer, who produced a 30-possession display in the midfield.

"He's a delight to watch and the team should learn a lot off him," Harvey said. "His performance does the talking."

But the Dockers coach was tight-lipped over the 19-year-old's chances of being this season's Rising Star.

"I've just sat back over the last couple of weeks and there's a lot of clubs advertising for what player should win that," he said. "Rhys has had a great year, that's all I'll say."