Fremantle have continued their perfect start to the season with a 28–point win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Dockers booted the first five goals of the match and always kept the Dogs at arm's length to seal the 16.10 (106) to 11.12 (78) victory.
It is the first time Fremantle have beaten the Western Bulldogs outside of Perth since 2004 and continues Ross Lyon's good record at Docklands with the former St Kilda coach winning all three of his matches at the venue last season.
In an even performance the Dockers had no real standout performers with Nat Fyfe (25) and Tendai Mzungu (22) the leading ball-winners, while Ryan Crowley kept Ryan Griffen very quiet in a key battle.
Up forward, Michael Walters top scored with three goals and skipper Matthew Pavlich booted two despite carrying a wrist injury into the game.
For the Dogs, Brownlow Medalist Adam Cooney (31) showed no signs of recent injury problems with an impressive performance off the half-back line, while Tom Liberatore was outstanding with 12 clearances and 28 touches.
Fellow youngster Clay Smith (21) also had a great game and Nick Lower added another scalp to his name with a great job on David Mundy.
Fremantle made a flying start and dominated the opening stages as the Bulldogs struggled to get a hold of the ball.
The Dockers created scoring opportunities almost every time they went inside forward 50 and got their reward with the first five goals of the contest.
Cooney finally stopped the rot with a clever snap late in the term, but Michael Barlow gave Freo a 31-point lead the first change with a goal in the shadows of quarter-time.
The Dogs came to life after the break with three quick goals to reduce the margin to 14 points, but the Dockers halted the charge through Pavlich.
The captain should have had another minutes later, but inexplicably played on and Jordan Roughead was able to come up with a desperation smother.
It mattered little though as the Dockers added another two goals – the second of which was a brilliant coast-to-coast effort that was finished off by Stephen Hill following a massive Danyle Pearce torpedo.
The Dockers put the game to bed with three quick goals to open the third term two of which were architected by Mundy.
There were bizarre scenes after Michael Walters booted the third of those goals with Liam Picken crashing into goal umpire Courtney Lai in attempt to smother. It was a sickening collision and Lai was stretchered from the field with what looked like an ACL injury.
The lengthy delay didn't halt Fremantle's charge as Pavlich extended the lead to 49 points before the Dogs responded with two of their own, but it mattered little to the final result.
To the Bulldogs' credit they fought hard to the end and outscored Freo in the final quarter, but they were never really in the hunt from the outset.
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 1.1, 5.4, 7.7, 10.12 (78)
FREMANTLE: 6.2, 9.6, 13.9, 16.10 (106)
GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Dahlhaus 3, Cross 2, Murphy 2, Cooney, Smith, Lower, Cordy
Fremantle: Walters 3, Bradley 2, Crozier 2, Pavlich 2, Fyfe, Mayne, Barlow, Mzungu, Hill, Sutcliffe, De Boer
BEST: Western Bulldogs: Liberatore, Cooney, Minson, Smith, Lower, Cross
Fremantle: Crowley, Fyfe, Mzungu, Griffin, Walters, Pavlich, Barlow
INJURIES: Western Bulldogs: Nil
Fremantle: Johnson (knee)
REPORTS: Nil
SUBSTITUTES: Western Bulldogs Koby Stevens replaced Mitch Wallis (3rd Quarter)
Fremantle: Cameron Sutcliffe replaced Clancee Pearce (4th Quarter)
CHANGES: Nil
UMPIRES: Chamberlain, Armstrong, MItchell
CROWD: 19,210 at the MCG
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