Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch said Fremantle demonstrated on Sunday the perfect example of defensive pressure he wants his side to implement next season.

The Lions’ poor use of the ball in their own defensive 50 at the Gabba on Sunday led to them conceding possession and ultimately points to Fremantle in Brisbane’ 58-point loss.

Leppitsch felt “psychological pressure” was as big a contributing factor as physical presence in causing turnovers, the discipline of Fremantle’s forwards and midfield forcing his side to make mistakes.

“When they man the mark they man it with intensity,” Leppitsch said. “They’re in your face. Early doors we really panicked.

“They treat manning the mark like their life depends on it and that’s what I want our boys to get to.

“We want to practise that, we want to get to that level. I don’t think the gap’s that big, the second half they only outscored us by a goal or so.

“It’s easy to talk about it, it’s easy to watch on the vision. We watched examples of Sam Mitchell last week panicking with the ball and he’s one of the best players in the competition so they can do it to anybody.”

The Lions have been without stars Daniel Rich and Jack Redden for much of the season and Leppitsch admitted he was worried about his midfield on Sunday.

However, he felt they matched up well with Stefan Martin continuing his good form against possible All-Australian ruckman Aaron Sandilands.

“I was worried it might be (a problem),” Leppitsch said.

“I thought we matched up well. It wasn’t the worst part of our game. It was the other areas we struggled.”