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Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was left frustrated by a subdued first-half that cost them any chance of beating Brisbane in a second-straight AFL loss.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir says he's yet to see his side measure up to the best AFL teams after a second-straight loss was marred by a cautious approach and basic errors.

The Dockers were blown away in a methodical first half by Brisbane (5-3) at the Gabba on Sunday, the Dockers (4-4) flattering themselves with the last three goals in a 14.11 (95) to 10.11 (71) loss.

Brisbane small forward Charlie Cameron took five marks inside 50m in the first quarter and 11 total for the game, finishing with three goals and five behinds while Jarryd Lyons and Hugh McCluggage pulled the strings in the midfield.

And while Nat Fyfe (27 disposals, 18 contested) battled hard in both regions of the ground Longmuir lamented his side's inability to create in the same fashion.

"Their efficiency going forward off some of our turnovers was way better than ours. I felt like we didn't have an avenue to goal, played too straight," Longmuir said.

"But I felt like we flipped it on it's head a little bit in the third quarter and it came through in the last, just changed angles a little and gave our forwards a bit more room to move.

"The message at half time was to keep going for your kicks, don't be safe and back yourself in.

"It didn't always look perfect but I'd rather us play that way than the first half."

The Dockers were originally set to host the Lions at Optus Stadium before a number of positive COVID-19 tests in Western Australia forced them to fly to the Gold Coast early in the week before playing in Brisbane.

They'll remain there ahead of a Sunday clash with Essendon, when a third-straight loss would see the Dockers fall into the red after building a 4-2 record.

"We haven't measured up against the best teams and played consistently enough against the better teams and that's our challenge," he said.

"We saw that in the first half, weren't able to do it and in the second half last week against West Coast."

Longmuir said forward Michael Frederick, subbed out in the first term, had likely suffered a serious ankle injury and could miss an extended period.