Fremantle’s vice-captain Caleb Serong has opened up on his team’s emotions in the wake of their shattering grand final loss to Brisbane.

Instead of holding the cup aloft for the first time in the club’s history, the Dockers have been left to rue the fallout of a dramatic late collapse which allowed Brisbane to pinch in a premiership three-peat in a drama-laden finish.

Speaking to Seven after his side surrendered four goals inside the final four minutes of the game to go down by seven points, a candid Serong admitted: “In terms of football, it doesn’t get much worse than that.”

“I’d much rather be in the game and in the fight and out here today and feeling these emotions and be out here today, but it’s shocking,” Serong told Seven.

Serong also revealed the nature of a brief message the side had received from their coach Justin Longmuir moments after the final siren.

“He just said how proud he was of us and how well we held ourselves today, aside from that last two-to-three minutes, which we didn’t get right,” Serong said.

“Aside from that, we showed up today and played a Freo brand of footy. We’ve got to be proud of that.”

Like his captain Alex Pearce only minutes before, Serong said he had no doubt his side would be able to bounce back from the shattering experience and return to football’s biggest stage.

“I know the character of the blokes in that room. They’re incredibly hard-working, but they’re great people,” he said.

“I know that this won’t break the group, this will galvanise the group. We’ve been through a lot in the last couple of years, so many different experiences that we’ve continued to use as fuel. This will be no different.

“This is the hardest thing you can go through as a football club, as a team, emotionally. I know whilst it hurts like hell, there’s no way around that, this group is going to come together.”