An impressive Fremantle side havebrought the Western Bulldogs back to earth with a comfortable 28-point win atEtihad Stadium.
The Dockers won 16.10 (106) to 11.12 (78) in front of 19,210 fans on Saturdayto remain unbeaten after their opening-round victory over West Coast.
The Dogs had kicked 19 goals in thrashing Brisbane by 68 points last weekend.
But the run and scoring power they displayed against the Lions was expertlystifled by the well-drilled Dockers, who have let an opposition team score morethan 12 goals just once in their past 13 games.
The Dockers had the game pretty much in their keeping after restricting theDogs to just 1.1 in the first quarter, while they booted six goals themselves.
While the Bulldogs briefly fought back with the first three goals of the secondterm, the Dockers kicked three of the next four to lead by 25 points at thelong break.
They sewed up the contest with a burst of four goals to open the second halfand build a 49-point lead, with midfield gun David Mundy involved in setting upthe first two after he had been well held by former teammate Nick Lower in thefirst half.
Versatile midfielder Nathan Fyfe was excellent for Fremantle, with 25 touchesand a goal, while the run of Stephen Hill and Danyle Pearce through the middleof the ground was important.
Agile forward pocket Michael Walters was a danger man with three goals, tallforwards Matthew Pavlich and Kepler Bradley kicked two each and Luke McPharlinwas extremely solid in defence.
The contribution of tagger Ryan Crowley, who blanketed Dogs' midfield star RyanGriffen, was also a key factor.
For the Bulldogs, Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney showed plenty of dash andpicked up 31 touches to continue his fine early-season form, Tom Liberatoreworked strongly in close, winning 12 clearances, small forward Luke Dahlhauskicked three majors and Jordan Roughead worked hard on Pavlich.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was pleasedwith the win but said there were still "inconsistencies" to work on.
"I think once you're satisfied, you're in trouble, aren't you?" Lyonsaid.
"We came here to get the four points, good teams win interstate and if youwant to be a good team you have to win interstate andwe've done that.
"We're doing that on a consistent basis."
Lyon also said the game was a run his side needed to have after playing theirround one game two weeks ago although was adamant having a week off so early inthe season wasn't a hindrance.
"We've played two games in five weeks, basically. I think that's roughlyright," he said.
"You just play with what's put in front of you but it gave us some realfreshness and bite early.
"The boys were exceptional on the training track so it gave us someconfidence that we would play well but there's just that mental and physicalfatigue, that match hardened, early round … we just fell away.
"At times we were really pleased and other times … we need to get it donea bit more consistently."
Western Bulldogs coach BrendanMcCartney noted some pleasing aspects of the Bulldogs’ performance but said histeam was often “too easy to play against”.
He said it was"another good step in the right direction against a professional, mature,disciplined footy team" despite the Dogs' kicking efficiency dropping offfrom last week's win over the Brisbane Lions.
"[Fremantle] values the part of the game when you haven't got the ball,and it's a part of the game that stacks up well when it really matters becauseyou can't always have the game on your terms at AFL level," McCartneysaid.
"We believe they're as good as it gets in that side of the game. When Isay they defended better, it wasn't like we were a basket base at it but theywere more consistent over the period of the day."
There were still other positives for the Dogs, including the fact many seniorplayers – including Robert Murphy, Daniel Giansiracusa and Shaun Higgins – weredown and they still managed to get the ball forward and win the clearances.
One was young midfielder Tom Liberatore, who had 28 disposals, a staggering 12clearances and shone when it came to the inside work.
"He's going to become elite at it, there's no doubt, provided he keepsworking hard and respecting the game and respecting his role in the team,"McCartney said.
"He's got other things to add to his game but he's certainly going tobecome a very special player in that inside part of the game."
Adam Cooney was another highlight, with his movement the cleanest it's been intwo seasons across his 90 per cent of game time.
"I had a good pre-season and was running on top of the ground. I did 80-90per cent of the pre-season coming in so that gave me a huge amount ofconfidence," Cooney said.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.1 5.5 7.7 11.12 (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, Pavlich 2, Crozier 2, Fyfe, Mayne, Barlow, Mzungu, Hill, Sutcliffe, de Boer
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Liberatore, Cooney, Lower, Dahlhaus, Minson
Fremantle: Fyfe, Crowley, Walters, McPharlin, Barlow, Mayne
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Fremantle: Pearce (calf)
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Mitch Wallis replaced by Koby Stevens in the third quarter
Fremantle: Clancee Pearce replaced by Cameron Sutcliffe at three-quarter time
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Ray Chamberlain, Jason Armstrong, Andrew Mitchell
Official crowd: 19,210 at Etihad Stadium
