Fremantle showed why they will once again be favourites for the 2014 AFL Premiership with a dominating 70-point round one win over Collingwood.
Paul Duffield slips a Scott Pendlebury tackle. Picture by Hamish Blair Source: News Corp Australia
COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley casually mentioned that it might be an ideal time to take a shot at Fremantle.
Well, if the Dockers are indeed a trifle underdone, pity help those who have to confront them, particularly in Perth, in coming weeks.
Fremantle simply absorbed the Magpies' opening quarter physical blitz, boldly queried "is that the best you've got?'', then cruelly and almost comically ran away with what could only loosely be described as a contest at Etihad Stadium last night.
BUTCHERS COST MAGPIES
From time-on in the first quarter until a similar stage of the third term, the dominant Dockers embarked on a 12-goals streak to impress the unbiased observers and embarrass the 37,571 fans, predominantly the black and white army, into eerie silence.
Collingwood's tackling pressure in the first term was the only thing to smile about. Picture by Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia
At least Buckley and his assistants have a fortnight to try to sift through the mess before another critical test against Sydney on a Saturday night at the Olympic Stadium.
Even prolific possession-winners, like Dayne Beams and Luke Ball, butchered the ball, former skipper Nick Maxwell had the fumbles down back and the disjointed forward structure collapsed against the disciplined Dockers back half, led by the ice-cool Michael Johnson, to scrounge five goals. Yes, just five under the closed roof in perfect conditions.
Any hope of a Collingwood second half revival was immediately snuffed out. From a kick out, the Dockers whisked the ball straight down the centre for Hayden Ballantyne to casually goal on the run. And then Tendai Mzungu slipped not one, but two Magpie tackles to further add to the early third quarter statement.
Aaron Sandilands got the better of Brodie Grundy and Jarrod Witts Picture Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia
Collingwood's intensity in the opening quarter had initially caught Fremantle by surprise. A Jarrod Witts tackle, for instance, to dispossess Lee Spurr near the centre circle set free Scott Pendlebury to slither through the first goal after just two minutes.
While Collingwood's workrate was admirable, it was always going to be an issue of whether the players could sustain it.
All the key indicators pointed to a Pies domination in that first quarter. The tackle count was a staggering 18-4 in the forward half and they also led the clearances 12-3.
But they paid a heavy price for not hitting the Dockers where it would have hurt them most — on the scoreboard.
Ball missed two set shots from inside 50, Steele Sidebottom sprayed another and they just couldn't get the ball within reach of Travis Cloke who was being double-teamed anyway.
Collingwood's one point lead at the first change always looked shaky. And Fremantle didn't take long to make them pay.
When that manic Magpie pressure dropped off just a notch early in the second term, the Dockers applied their own more subtle squeeze that started with Aaron Sandilands at the centre bounces.
Dockers tall target Matthew Pavlich found the space that Cloke was denied at the other end to mark and goal and ground level exponents like Nathan Fyfe, Stephen Hill, Ballantyne and Clancee Peace sliced and diced through the Pies defence to stretch the scoreboard buffer.
Seven unanswered goals from 21 minutes in the opening quarter right to half-time illustrated Fremantle's remarkable turnaround and complete domination.
As a final insult, that barren second term was only the second time Collingwood has been held goal-less for a quarter against the Dockers.
COLLINGWOOD: 5.16.46
FREMANTLE: 17.14.116
BRUCE MATTHEWS' BEST
Fremantle: Johnson, Barlow, Mzungu, Mundy, Sandilands, Hill, Pearce.
Collingwood: Beams, Pendlebury, Swan, Langdon
Nathan Fyfe flies high in the second term. Picture Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia
MATCH IN A MINUTE
NEW DAWN OF THE SWARM (Q1)
Collingwood turned the clock back to 2010 and 2011 in forward pressure in the opening term. A desperate Jarrod Witts tackle in the middle of the ground resulted in the first goal to Scott Pendlebury.
ORDER RESTORED (Q2)
Wow. That's all you can say about Fremantle's second term. Six goals came for the Dockers as the Pies' field kicking disintegrated and Nat Fyfe showed why he might be a Brownlow winner by September.
SCORING STREAK (Q3)
If Magpie fans thought it couldn't get worse, they were sadly mistaken. Six more goals meant 12 in a row for the Dockers before the Pies finally ended 61 minutes without a goal late in the term.
THANK GOD THAT'S OVER (Q4)
Not the intense season-opener the AFL would have wanted, but we learnt two things. The Pies have a long, long way to go, and the Dockers look the real deal.
Glenn McFarlane
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