St Kilda were left without an interstate win for the year, and possibly without the inspirational Robert Harvey for a lengthy spell, after succumbing to Fremantle 15.11 (101) to 6.19 (55) at Subiaco on Friday night.

With Harvey set to become just the tenth man in AFL/VFL history to reach 350 career games next week, the dual Brownlow medallist limped off in the first quarter clutching his left hamstring and shaking his head like a man who knew he was in trouble.

And without his presence in the Saints' engine room, his younger pretenders could not stem the giant presence of Aaron Sandilands, who gave Matthew Pavlich, Chris Tarrant and Peter Bell enough ammunition to kick Freo's season back into gear.

It wouldn't be Fremantle without a report to ponder, with Michael Johnson in trouble for his head high contact with Justin Koschitzke in the third quarter.

And although the win was hugely welcome for Freo, it was not altogether convincing after they let a 31-point half time lead slip to as few as 15 in the third term - which could have been a lot closer if not for St Kilda's wayward radar.

A one-sided first term saw Freo dominate out of the middle and on the scoreboard, with Troy Cook fittingly kicking the first major of the indigenous round.

Sandilands' dominance allowed Freo to pepper the Saints' defence and four more majors came before Fraser Gehrig's 499th career goal stemmed the tide.

Before that, Harvey's delicate hamstrings had again let him down, when a stretch for a loose ball saw him immediately clutch at the back of his left leg and hobble off.

If Freo fans thought the 35-year-old's loss might cruel the Saints, the opposite was true, with the visitors finding much needed vigour and vitality after the break - only to spoil it with dreadful finishing.

Damningly, despite eight scoring shots to two against them, Freo were pegged back by just a single point and actually kicked six more goals despite having less ball inside fifty than their opponents in the first half.

Gehrig was pegged to celebrate 500 career goals but was one of the main shooting culprits, finishing with 1.4, and Nick Riewoldt's usually safe hands deserted him, undermining the timely return to fitness and form of Lenny Hayes.

Even the co-captain, so clean in everything else, was guilty of some appalling finishing, missing from 25 metres after being found by a David Mundy kick-in early in the third term.

And with Johnson already in the book, it was one of his aboriginal brothers who made his mark, when Clayton Collard used his second kick in AFL to register his first, and vital goal, at the top flight.

With a buffer restored, Freo was able to kick on with four goals in the first eight minutes of the last term to ice the game and leave the Saints with just eight wins from their last 24 interstate trips.

A downcast Lyon said a poor start and a tired finish cost his club a chance.

"I'll sum the game up - first quarter got smacked, not the intensity we want, still a little bit inaccurate," Lyon said.

"Our effort in the second and third created a lot of opportunities and I think we were 3.15 or 3.16 at half time - you are not going to win many games of footy, let alone at Subiaco.

"Interstate, you have got to take your chances and we could not put any scoreboard pressure.

"It was a lot of effort to get back in and then I though their intensity and their run early in the last, they kicked four goals in eight minutes, and that was the game.

"When you are coming from behind ... that expends a lot of energy, and if you have not got scoreboard pressure it is going to take its toll eventually." Lyon said Harvey's hamstring injury had yet to be assessed but said "it did not look great".

Dockers coach Chris Connolly said despite still not hitting top gear, Freo were dragging themselves out of an early season slump.

"It was a good solid win ... to win by the margin we did," Connolly said.

"St Kilda threw everything at us in the third quarter, and we were confident that on this ground which is so demanding physically, that we could run over the top.

"We have had to dig ourselves out of the hole and we are still digging - but we have won four of the last six.

"We know we haven't played our best football, we are going into games under pressure, but still had the courage to take the game on."

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