Strong supply from the midfield assisted a new-look Fremantle forward line in the club's upset 24-point win over Greater Western Sydney in Canberra.
With Cam McCarthy a late withdrawal due to illness, key forwards Matt Taberner and Jesse Hogan kicked three apiece, while smalls Brandon Matera (four) and Michael Walters (three) were also prominent.
Coach Ross Lyon said the midfield, driven by captain Nat Fyfe, was influential.
"Every week is a different challenge. We're still coming together and [are] relatively new, so that's a work in progress, but there were some good outcomes today," Lyon said.
"It's always won and lost in the midfield and in the end I thought our midfield got on top. (Michael) Walters, Fyfe, (David) Mundy, (Brad) Hill, (Ed) Langdon, (Andrew) Brayshaw, we won it in the midfield."
Taberner had one of the better games of his 67-game career, finishing with 21 disposals and 13 marks to go with his three majors.
The 25-year-old is steadily building form after missing nearly four months in the middle of last season with a long-term foot injury.
"He was quite a dominant key forward until he had that plantar fascia injury, then he had a fracture," Lyon said.
"He went down early (last year), so he was a significant loss for us.
"All he does is work hard and make the most of himself and I'm really proud of him."
Fyfe was highly influential in his return from concussion with 31 disposals and 13 clearances.
To the surprise of some, noted Giants tagger Matt De Boer started on Hill, before switching his attention to Fyfe in the second half.
"I thought we were very good last week bar our finishing and early defending, so we don't want to make it about one player. [There were] certainly some great contributors outside of our midfielders; Alex Pearce on (Jeremy) Cameron, Luke Ryan, (Adam) Cerra is a young player," Lyon said when asked about Fyfe.
"When you play well, it's not about one person, it was certainly a weight of numbers performance. I walked into the room and there were 22 excited players and I didn't see one player sitting there, I saw 22.
"That's the way Nat views it, but he's our captain and he's an inspiration and I thought he was inspirational today with his contest."
