It was the right thing to say from the perspective of a team that had genuine opportunities to beat Hawthorn in a grand final.

And it was the right thing to say from the perspective of a playing group that had emerged as finals calibre in 2010, developed into something a little more than that in 2012 and become a genuine premiership threat in 2013.

But the past couple of Fremantle games - the shock (and shocking) loss to St Kilda two weeks ago and the fingernail-shortening win over Carlton on Thursday - have made me think more and more about something that registered only fleetingly last September:

It's bloody hard just to make a grand final, let alone win one.

To make a grand final, a lot of things need to go right. You also need a lot of things to not go wrong. And when some do go wrong - as inevitably happens - you need as many of them as possible to be as manageable as possible.

Last year, among other things, that meant Michael Walters' knee problem being something he could play through. It meant Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands and Luke McPharlin all returning from injuries in time to find touch ahead of the finals.

It meant having enough wins on the board to send a B-team to Melbourne to play St Kilda in round 23 (even if this so very nearly cost Freo second spot on the ladder) and it meant hosting a pretty-much-cooked Sydney side in the preliminary final.

In time, maybe there's a chance we might be able to say some similar things about 2014.

But right now, as a Dockers fan, it's hard not be discouraged by the ankle injury that's kept Walters out of all but three games, worried by the fact McPharlin has been hurt again (and just doesn't look quite right at the moment) and concerned that Pavlich has been subbed out of consecutive games with head knocks.

It's also quite reasonable to question whether a soft fixture run through the middle of the season might have offered up fool's gold.

From round 11 to round 17, the Dockers beat five teams that didn't play finals last year and won't again in 2014 (if you include West Coast), one team (Adelaide) that wasn't a finalist in 2013 and is outside the eight after the weekend and another side (Richmond) that played into last September but most probably won't be involved in this one.

The Dockers then got flogged by St Kilda, which hasn't played finals since Fremantle coach Ross Lyon left in 2011 and is no certainty to again do so before the turn of the decade.

A few theories I have about Lyon:

1) The early season isn't really a priority. The Dockers have been 3-2 after five rounds in each of his three seasons.

2) His teams find form and hold it. Seven straight wins this year, nine wins from 11 games headed into round 23 last year and eight from 10 to round out the 2012 home-and-away season.

3) He's such a good coach, that he can paper over just about any number of cracks. And I really mean this as a compliment. Name another coach who could take a team featuring Raph Clarke, Andrew McQualter, Jason Blake and past-their-primes Steven King and Michael Gardiner to a grand final, then butter up for another go a year later (twice!) with the additions of Robert Eddy and Brett Peake.

Much like at St Kilda, where he had the likes of Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santa, Luke Ball and Leigh Montagna at his disposal, Lyon does't have too many cracks to worry about in the Fremantle midfield.

Nathan Fyfe is a superstar. David Mundy is elite. Stephen Hill is very good (with moments of eliteness). Michael Barlow, after so much hype to start his AFL career, has reached a weird point where his work suddenly seems kind of underrated. Lachie Neale makes for a promising fifth Beatle, even if he looks a bit more like he could be in One Direction.

There's nothing in the previous paragraph that you probably don't already know, so here are some stats even I wasn't aware of until I started writing this piece.

Offensively, throught the first 18 games of this season, Fremantle is basically as potent as it was last year (90.5 points-per-game as opposed to 92.5) and comparatively better (sixth in the AFL in points for compared to 12th last year). This despite Pavlich being the only permanent big target, Chris Mayne battling for form and goals (zero games of multiple goals, after 13 last year), Walters being largely absent, the non-impact of Colin Sylvia and the most reliable marking threat also being the team's best midfielder (Fyfe).

Defensively, the Dockers are giving up marginally less points than they did in 2013 (68.8 per game, as opposed to 69) and comparatively as good (equal first in points conceded  compared with outright first last year). This despite an All-Australian centre half-back in McPharlin having two separate stints on the sidelines.

Disposal efficiency-wise, Fremantle is exactly the same comparatively and statistically (seventh, 72.3 per cent) at it was last year. This despite four players for whom I now close my eyes whenever they go to kick: Zac Dawson, Lee Spurr, Cameron Sutcliffe and Danyle Pearce***.

In terms of the ladder, the Dockers are fourth, just as they were after 18 games last year,

Of course, the biggest knock on Lyon is that he doesn't win premierships. I guess that stays statistically true until he proves otherwise.

On the basis of everything that hasn't gone right so far for Freo in 2014 and a four-game run home that includes fixtures against Geelong, Hawthorn and Port Adelaide, it would be a brave man who wanted to bet on that changing this year.

Still, as I told my dad (an Eagles supporter) after the Carlton win, it's much better to be inside the top-four and hoping for a change of luck - and for some papered-over cracks to hold - than to be on the outside looking in.

***For years in Adelaide, Pearce carried the reputation of not necessarily getting the hard ball but being a skilled finisher. But since he joined Freo - and especially this year - he's unleashed a collection of shanks and sprays that would do a public driving range proud. Among the Freo players who have played six or more games this year, he's dead last for disposal efficiency (63.2 per cent). The only thing that mystifies me more is the three names directly above him: David Mundy, Hayden Ballantyne and Stephen Hill.