Fremantle ruck giant Aaron Sandilands concedes the Dockers’ midfield must learn from their first half against Sydney as they confront their more challenging path toward back-to-back AFL grand finals.

Both Sandilands and coach Ross Lyon acknowledged the midfield were below their best in the opening half of the fiercely-contested 24-point qualifying final loss to minor premiers Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

“There’s a lot to learn from the game and we’ll review it during the week and regroup and have another crack next week,” Sandilands said.

“It’s important that we regroup quickly.

“As a midfield group we were disappointed with our first half.

“They (Sydney) are an exceptional clearance side, but we felt we turned it around in the second half.”

Lyon wasn’t inclined to dwell on the challenge of their longer, more travel-intensive route to a grand final, which will include another interstate game if they win at home next weekend.

“Our players will be up for the challenge at home in front of our members and fans and we look forward to fighting our way into a preliminary final appearance,” Lyon said.

“There’s plenty of opportunity for us. We’ll learn a lot out of today’s game.

“I wouldn’t have thought our fans or members would be disappointed with our overall effort.”

Sandilands acknowledged the Dockers midfield had to accept some of the blame for the subdued performance of Freo’s leading goalkicker Hayden Ballantyne.

The feisty small forward finished goalless and tallied only seven touches.

“As a midfield group we didn’t get it in there enough for him to do his work, so we take responsibility for that,” Sandilands said.