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The late withdrawal of captain Kara Donnellan was a sign of things to come for Fremantle in their AFLW preliminary final defeat.

Fremantle AFLW coach Trent Cooper wonders how they might have put up a side for the grand final, given their injury toll from their preliminary final defeat.

Cooper lamented that the Dockers' Ikon Park changeroom looked like the aftermath of a battle, after the six-goal belting from the Blues.

The signs were not good when captain Kara Donnellan was forced out as a late withdrawal because of a quad injury and knee soreness.

Dana Hooker needed a local anaesthetic in her sternum and carried a leg injury into the game.

Then a succession of Fremantle players were forced to the bench as Carlton's fierce physical pressure took its toll.

Kiara Bowers (hip), Stephanie Cain (shoulder), Hayley Miller (hamstring), Ashlee Atkins (shoulder) and Evey Gooch (arm) all spent time off the ground.

"I don't know how we would have been able to play against Adelaide next week," Cooper said with a slip of the tongue, reflecting the Crows' favouritism in Sunday's preliminary final against Geelong.

"It did look like an episode of MASH in the rooms just then."

Hooker clearly struggled and Cooper said she was "extremely brave" to play.

"The girls who did see it, it wasn't pretty," Cooper said of Hooker's pre-game sternum needle.

The Dockers finished second in Conference A with a 6-1 record while Carlton topped the weaker Conference B with four wins.

But Fremantle had to win their last three games against the Western Bulldogs, Geelong and North Melbourne to finish in the top two and Cooper said those games might have taken their toll.

"I thought the mood wasn't tired, they didn't look tired at training," he said.

"But geez, it just didn't happen.

"In hindsight, being up for those mini-finals, for three weeks in a row, has played against us."