Fremantle fans had every right to boo and jeer their AFL team after the latest Dockers shocker, captain Matthew Pavlich said.

Dockers fans turned on their own after they were smashed by Richmond by 64 points at Subiaco Oval on Sunday, in a performance Pavlich labelled as "horrendous".

Even though they were playing their third successive game at home, it was Fremantle who wilted in the heat and were not competitive against opponents who had lost their past nine games at Subiaco.

Pavlich said it was disappointing to cop a spray from their own fans among a crowd of more than 37,000, but conceded he understood the supporters' frustrations.

"It's disappointing that they feel that way, that they have to do it, but they had every right yesterday to do that," he said.

"Our performance was horrendous and not good enough.

"The fans were probably frustrated at all of us and they were going to take it out on an individual or the team in general yesterday.

"I don't blame them for taking it out on us at all."

Pavlich said the defeat was one of the worst he had experienced, but offered no excuses for the Dockers' poor effort, in which they were uncompetitive and second to the ball too often despite coming off an eight-day break.

"We'll definitely look at the reasons why over the next couple of days, but our intensity and desperation and ability to win the ball was very poor yesterday," he said.

The next two rounds will be crucial in Fremantle's season, as they languish in 13th spot - with one win from four games - and play Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday and then host reigning premier Geelong on Anzac Day.

The Dockers dumped veterans Matthew Carr and Heath Black after the round-three win over West Coast, but coach Mark Harvey hinted at making more changes this week following defeat to Richmond.

In a further blow to Fremantle, defender Steven Dodd faces being suspended for the game against the Crows for tripping Richmond's Jack Riewoldt by the hand.

The match review panel assessed Dodd's actions as intentional, of low impact and to the body, which drew a total of five activation points.

That would normally result in a reprimand with an early plea, but Dodd's bad record means he cannot escape suspension even by making an early plea.

But forward Chris Tarrant avoided any repercussions of his crashing into the back of Tiger Kelvin Moore, as the panel considered it a legitimate attempt to spoil.

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