Barlow brilliance
Michael Barlow has seemingly reinvented himself in a tagging role in recent weeks and while he began the game with a hard-tag on Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray, it was Barlow who made the biggest impact on the game.
The Freo midfielder finished with 43 disposals and nine clearances but it was his impact on the scoreboard that was most influential.
Barlow finished with two goals as he turned two Port defender’s inside out before kicking the banana goal from the pocket, and followed up moments later with snap goal in traffic from long range.

Stats that mattered – disposal count
Fremantle won the disposal count against Port Adelaide 400 to 310 on Saturday, and while the game was closer than the final numbers would indicate, Freo’s ability to consistently win the ball allowed them to withstand the Port’s dangerous attacks. Michael Barlow and Lachie Neale were key contributors with 81 touches between them, accounting for just over 20 per cent of Freo’s total disposal count.
 
Stats that lied – inside 50’s
While the inside 50 count finished relatively even with Freo only having six more entries than Port Adelaide (51 to 46), the outcome was vastly different due to Port’s inaccuracy in front of goal. Port kicked 9.15 to Fremantle’s 12.14 and a number of these misses were from established goal kickers such as Chad Wingard, Robbie Gray and Charlie Dixon.

Match report: Three straight for Freo
 
Zac Clarke competes
Fremantle went into the game against Port Adelaide with just the one ruckman, as Zac Clarke was set to do battle with Jack Trengove. Clarke’s task was made even tougher as pinch-hit ruckman Tanner Smith went down with a hamstring injury in the third quarter. Clarke finished with 43 hit outs to Trengove’s 28 and while his ruck work was solid, his biggest influence came in the final quarter as he took a number of strong marks in critical moments of the game.
 
Pavlich puts on a show
Matthew Pavlich missed Freo’s clash with Brisbane in round 11 but slotted nicely back into the side against Port Adelaide. Pavlich took one of the more improbable marks you’ll see, in a seated position and glaring directly into the sun and followed that up with a 55m long-bomb goal in the third quarter than brought Domain Stadium to its feet.
The Freo favourite finished the game with 15 disposals and four goals.
 
Freo flankers force the issue
Fremantle’s halfbacks played an integral role in the 17 point win against Port Adelaide on Saturday. Four of Freo’s top six ball winners were on the halfback line, with David Mundy, Lee Spurr, Danyle Pearce and Hayden Crozier each having 21 touches or more. In addition to their ball winning abilities, the four defenders used the ball well, with an averaged disposal efficiency of 72.1% in a highly contested game in which open space and uncontested possession were seldom available.