Aaron Sandilands is happy to see an improved effort after Fremantle’s thrilling two-point win over Collingwood in the JLT Community Series at Rushton Park in Mandurah.

Coming off a disappointing 55-point loss in Fremantle’s pre-season opener against West Coast, Freo responded with more pressure and intensity around the contest. 

The win was secured by an Ed Langdon goal after the siren, but to Sandilands the team performance on the day was far more significant.

“It was good for Ed to go back and kick the goal,” Sandilands said.

“But more importantly, it was good that we responded after our performance from last week.

“We knew that it was unacceptable and as a playing group we wanted to respond, and play a lot better and I thought we played a lot better as a team.”

Against West Coast, Fremantle lost the possession count by 201 (415 to 214), and the contested possession count by 16 (100 to 84). Against Collingwood it was Fremantle on the other side of the ledger, winning the possession and contested possession count by 21 and 12 respectively.

And it came against a Collingwood side boasting their star midfielders in Scott Pendlebury, Adam Treloar and Taylor Adams.

“I thought our midfield group worked really well together,” Sandilands said.

“We knew we were up with a challenge in Collingwood, they’re a quality side.”

“We’ve got a short break this week so it’s important for us to recover well. We needed a response after the way we played last week and I thought we as a group we played a lot better.”

Sandilands missed last week’s clash with West Coast through injury, but shook off the cobwebs in a 20 hit out and 15-disposal performance. 

One crucial Sandilands highlight came half-way through the final term quarter. Instead of going for a tough contested mark in the goal-square, Sandilands stayed composed to tap the ball down to an open Michael Walters, who kicked his third goal for the game. 

“It’s good to get back out there,” Sandilands said. 

“I missed the past couple of weeks with a slight calf strain. I got through the majority of the pre-season and it was good to get back out there and get a bit of match fitness.

“I’ll definitely be better for it.”