Nat Fyfe celebrated his 100th match with a career-high 37 disposals to help Fremantle defeat North Melbourne by 73 points and remain undefeated, two games clear at the top of the AFL ladder.

Michael Walters also bagged four goals as the Freo Dockers won their eighth straight game of the season, 17.13 (115) to 5.12 (42) in front of 35,836 fans at Domain Stadium.

Walters from the boundary

Fyfe surpassed his previous best of 36 disposals, which he registered in round two this year against Geelong. Lachie Neale collected 34 and kicked a goal. Michael Barlow gathered 30 and kicked two, while David Mundy had 27 touches and also kicked two goals.

Walters, Hayden Ballantyne and Chris Mayne were incredible with their defensive pressure up forward, forcing turnovers and kicking seven goals between them. The defence was impenetrable once again, with Garrick Ibbotson taking intercept marks at will.   

"It was a strong performance," Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said post-match.

"We're hungry, we're working hard. A few things we came to improve upon, our forward 50 stoppages and bits and pieces, I thought we did that.”

Ross Lyon post-match Q & A round 8

Ben Cunnington fought hard in the middle with 24 touches and eight clearances. Todd Goldstein was good in the ruck against Aaron Sandilands with 31 hit-outs, while Scott Thompson was outstanding in keeping Matthew Pavlich to just one goal while the rest of the defence was under siege.  

The Freo Dockers kicked their second highest score of the season while restricting the Kangaroos to the lowest score of any opponent they have faced in the first eight rounds.

Fremantle's win followed the blueprint that has been laid out so many times already this season.

Freo bolted out of the blocks, kicking three goals in the first six minutes of the match to leave the Kangaroos shell-shocked. Walters kicked two of the three, the first from a set shot after pinning Ben Jacobs with a ferocious tackle inside 50 in the opening seconds. The second was a silky finish on the run from a tight angle after Fyfe stormed through a stoppage to gather and dish off a handball.

The Kangaroos only goal for the term came from a bad skill error from Michael Johnson in the back half. He hit opponent Jamie Macmillan on the chest and watched the ball sail back over his head for a goal.

Freo's lead was 26 at quarter-time, but there was plenty of niggle between the sides.

Freo's pressure creates goal

Goldstein collided with Ballantyne off the ball to give away a free kick in the first quarter. Sandilands squared up with Goldstein in response. Thompson and Pavlich needled each other throughout the first.

The opening two goals of the second term came from holding free kicks. It was an arm wrestle for most of the term, but when Fyfe was penalised for a push that gifted Jack Ziebell a goal to cut the margin to 21, the Dockers' star stepped it up a gear. He won the next two centre clearances and both resulted in scores. The first was a rushed behind but Lachie Neale goaled after Freo turned over the kick-in.

Fyfe's next clearance went long to the square with Pavlich bringing the ball to ground for Ballantyne to soccer through his first. Fyfe had 20 possessions, 11 contested, and seven clearances to half-time.

The lead was 34 points at the long break, but the Kangaroos were fortunate that Matt Taberner hit the post after the siren, having been gifted a free kick through some ill-discipline from Lindsay Thomas.

The Freo Dockers skipped clear in the third term. Their insufferable forward half pressure created goals for both Taberner and Walters, while Mayne kicked his second after a brilliant coast-to-coast move around the outer side from a kick-in.

The lead was 53 at three-quarter time and it was blown out in the last as the Kangaroos kicked six behinds for the quarter. They head back to Melbourne 4-4 to face Collingwood next Sunday while the Freo Dockers travel to Adelaide to face the Crows on Saturday night.

FREMANTLE  5.3 9.8 13.11 17.13 (115)
NORTH MELBOURNE 1.1 4.4 5.6 5.12 (42)

GOALS
Fremantle: Walters 4, Taberner 2, Mayne 2, Mundy 2, Barlow 2, Ballantyne, Pavlich, Neale, Sandilands, Sheridan
North Melbourne: Thomas, Macmillan, Ziebell, Higgins, Harvey

BEST
Fremantle: Fyfe, Ballantyne, Mundy, Walters, Hill, Neale, Spurr, Sandilands
North Melbourne: Harvey, Thompson, Goldstein, Cunnington, Firrito

INJURIES
Fremantle: Pavlich (hip)
North Melbourne: TBA

SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Tom Sheridan replaced Matthew Pavlich in the fourth quarter
North Melbourne: Trent Dumont replaced Luke McDonald in the third quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Margetts, Schmitt, Farmer

Official crowd: 35,836 at Domain Stadium