Dockers underwhelming in season opener

The Dockers have had a AFLW season opener to forget coming up 49-points short of the Brisbane Lions.

Missing key duo Ebony and Kara Antonio through injury Fremantle were found wanting in several key positions.

The Lions roar was heard loud and clear as they piled on six unanswered goals after quarter time to set up the 11.10.76 to 4.3.27 victory.

Hayley Miller (15 disposals and one goal) and Kiara Bowers (17 possessions) battled hard without reward.

Coach Trent Cooper said he believed some of the areas of weakness could be returned around quickly.

"I think so because we’ve got the fitness base and all our data says that we can do it but today we were just a little bit off."

"We haven’t had the ideal preparation with our two games we’ve had leading into it.

"I watched Brisbane and StKilda last week and I thought that the quality of that practice game was a lot better than the quality of the games we played in.

So today is that sharp reminder of what’s needed."

Jess Low (concussion) and Janelle Cuthbertson (broken nose) collided during the second quarter and both missed the remainder of the game.

Both will be monitored throughout the beginning of the week.

The Dockers are back home at Fremantle Oval on Saturday taking on Geelong with bounce down at 11:40am.

IMAGE: PerthNow