Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has heaped praise on Fremantle after they dismantled his team by 25 points at the Gabba on Saturday, declaring they are entering a sweet spot in the premiership quest.

But the Dockers’ win has come at a price, with midfielder Matthew Johnson injuring his hamstring and defender Brennan Cox unable to play in the second half due to a knee injury.

The Dockers won their 11th game in a row with a 15.13 (103) to 10.18 (78) victory. They tore the game apart with six goals in the third term, and key forwards Josh Treacy, Pat Voss and Jye Amiss combined for 11 goals.

It was Fremantle’s first win at the Gabba since 2016, and Fagan said the Dockers are the best team in the competition.

“They’re really good. They’ve been developing now for five or six years. Each time I play them, I can see those young blokes getting better. They’re approaching a real sweet spot, I reckon, in their growth and development as a footy club,” Fagan said.

“I know how difficult it is to travel, being an interstate team. They’ve got to travel from Perth, and they’ve been able to win that many games. That’s an outstanding effort. They would get a lot of confidence from that

“It’s probably a mark of Fremantle’s improvement that they’ve been able to come here and beat us at our ground. I don’t think they’ve done that for a long time. So they’re going really well. They look strong, and the big key forwards kicked 11 between them. They’re a weapon.”

Longmuir said the win highlighted the depth within his team given Hayden Young and Caleb Serong are missing from the midfield.

He expressed immense pride in the way players have stepped up to the challenge of covering for big names whenever they’ve suffered injuries.

But that depth will continue to be tested given Johnson’s injury and the concerns over Cox. Johnson’s injury occurred during the final quarter, and while the Dockers have a bye after next week’s game against North Melbourne, he could face a challenge to be fit to face Geelong on June 18.

Longmuir wasn’t worried about Alex Pearce leaving the field with a knee concern because he played out the game.

He expects Young to be fit to play against the Kangaroos but knows the team will face more challenges.

“Cox is sore. They’re not worried about anything structurally, but he just had a sore knee, and then just couldn’t function because of that soreness. We’ll have to get more details. That’s all I know at the moment,” he said.

“Every club goes through this stage. A large part of your squad gets tested. We’ve been pretty fortunate that we’ve had a fair few players play every game, and haven’t had to call on as many as some of the other teams.

“But we feel like we’ve got the depth there, with feel like we’ve got players in the WAFL who are putting up their hand for AFL selection, and are ready for an opportunity.”