An AFL great has made the bizarre claim red-hot Fremantle are peaking too early in the season, despite sitting a game clear on top of the ladder.

The Dockers broke new ground in Bunbury as they demolished a sorry Roos outfit by a club record 124 points and extended their win streak to 12 straight games and have been the outright favourite to win a maiden premiership for the past fortnight.

They head into the bye 14 points clear of third-placed Hawthorn and now have a better percentage than Sydney, who are a game behind in second.

The win was made all the more remarkable given first choice players Caleb Serong, Brennan Cox, and Matthew Johnson were all missing through injury, while it was Hayden Young’s first game back after missing three weeks from a concussion.

However, Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd has suggested Fremantle may be playing their hand too early, giving time for opposition teams to adjust to their game plan.

“They can’t be doing any more right now, but can you peak too early?” Lloyd asked on Nine.

“Would they be wishing this were in three months and not now? They can’t be doing any more right now.

“Does it give opposition teams 10 weeks to go ‘how do we stop this mob?’”

He doubled down on AFL.com, referencing that of the seven other teams to have only lost one game, or none, by round 13, only two have gone on to claim the ultimate prize in September.

“They are on track to be there on grand final day with what history tells you, but that doesn’t mean you win a premiership,” he said.

But with other contenders faltering, Fremantle are clear premiership favourites currently at $3.75 according to TABtouch, with Sydney drifting out to $5.50.

And with the likes of Sean Darcy currently in the WAFL, the Dockers still have plenty of levers to pull to improve something which coach Justin Longmuir alluded to post-game, who said: “We’re not our best version yet.”

“I’ve seen us play better, that’s the challenge for us as a playing group. It’s to remain hungry and keep looking, set, keep searching for areas we can improve, because everyone below us on the ladder is doing exactly that.”

“So I don’t sit here and think, “Oh, we’re our best version yet. Through personnel, through the way we’re playing, we’ve got areas of our game that we can get better at. That’s what we’ve got to strive to do.”