COACH Alastair Clarkson was in a relaxed mood despite the defeat to Fremantle and seeing former skipper Shane Crawford reported for striking Dockers Peter Bell.

Clarkson said he had not seen the incident involving Crawford and would deal with the report as he would any other.

"They will work it out mate ... if we lose him we lose him. I haven't seen the incident, but if we lose a soldier, we replace him with another one, as simple as that," Clarkson said.

Nor was the coach too disheartened by the 21-point defeat."The Perth trip is probably one of the most demanding trips in footy, so to give some of our young fellas the opportunity to experience the routine of playing a night game against quality opposition ... was great.

"Next week we will get a bit closer to the side we will play in round one."

Fremantle won 12.12 (84) to 9.9 (63) but there were further promising signs for the Hawks.

Lance Franklin had another strong game, Tim Boyle booted three majors and Matthew Little two, while Jordan Lewis was another to put forward a strong case for further involvement.