Fremantle have overcome the early loss of ruckman Aaron Sandilands to injury to stun in-form Richmond by 12 points in their AFL clash at the MCG on Saturday.
Dockers skipper Matthew Pavlich was outstanding for his side, booting six goals in the 12.6 (78) to 9.12 (66) victory to snap Fremantle’s three-match losing streak.
With the game in the balance throughout in miserable, rainy conditions, Pavlich broke open the match with the opening two goals of the final term.
That allowed Fremantle to turn a lead which had not extended above a goal for most of the day to double digits.
And that margin proved enough even though the Tigers closed to within seven points late in the quarter.
The Dockers sealed a rare Melbourne victory with a goal to Hayden Ballantyne with less than 90 seconds remaining.
Fremantle’s win was made even better after they lost arguably the competition’s best ruckman to a first quarter leg injury – Sandilands leaving the field after just two minutes and substituted soon after.
But his deputy Jonathon Griffin stood up well against Tigers’ ruckman Ivan Maric.
The Dockers handled the difficult conditions far better than the Tigers, with midfielders Matt De Boer (29 possessions) and Michael Barlow (24) influential around the contests.
And defensively they stifled the Tigers throughout, tackling themselves to a standstill with De Boer and Ballantyne prominent.
In contrast, most of Richmond’s best players were down on form, with Fremantle tagger Ryan Crowley outstanding in limiting Brett Deledio’s input and influence.
Only midfielders Trent Cotchin, Shane Tuck and forward Shane Edwards, who booted three goals, were able to break the shackles.
The Dockers are now 6-5, with the Tigers 5-6 and still outside the top eight despite their previous good form.