A dominant final term has seen Fremantle pull off a thrilling 12-point win against Collingwood at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
A dour first quarter gave way to a fast and frenetic contest which ebbed and flowed throughout in front of over 20,000 fans in Perth.
There were plenty of positives for Fremantle, with Caleb Serong showing why he was selected with pick eight in last year’s draft after he backed up Monday’s impressive display with another promising game against the Pies.
Matt Taberner was superb throughout as well, booting four straight goals including two in the fourth quarter.
It was a testing 24 hours for Collingwood after the club were fined $50,000 ($25,000) after senior coach Nathan Buckley and assistant Brenton Sanderson broke COVID-19 protocols by playing tennis with Australian Fed Cup captain Alicia Molik, who sits outside the club’s quarantine ‘bubble’.
The result sees Collingwood fall out of the top eight while Fremantle remain in 16th spot.
Here’s everything you need to know!
The moments: Crowden and Taberner’s early goals in the fourth
The game was on a knife’s edge heading in the final term as Collingwood held a four-point advantage.
But the game turned within the first two minutes of the final quarter, as Mitch Crowden booted an early goal after just 18 seconds before Matt Taberner took a big contested grab in the pocket and snuck it through for Fremantle’s second major in two final-quarter minutes.
Collingwood never made it back from there.
The breakout: Lachie Schultz’s big game
Fremantle may not play finals this year but it’s been heartening to see Justin Longmuir continue to blood youngsters through the 2020 campaign.
Lachie Schultz is one of those names and had arguably his best game at AFL level on Sunday, in a performance which included 11 touches and two goals.
After his two-goal performance against the Saints a couple of weeks ago, he backed it up at Optus Stadium and looked every bit the threatening small forward type Fremantle want him to be.
The beauty of our ball ↩️#AFLFreoPies pic.twitter.com/s2exk3pX6P
— AFL (@AFL) August 2, 2020
What’s next?
Fremantle are afforded the bye in Round 10 and are next in action on Monday week against Hawthorn in Round 11.
As for the Pies, they face the arduous task of jetting across the country to Brisbane to play Sydney in just four days’ time.
FULL SCORE
Fremantle: 0.0, 4.1, 6.1, 10.1 (61)
Collingwood: 1.2, 2.4, 6.5, 7.7 (49)
GOALS
Fremantle: Taberner 4, Crowden 2, Schultz 2, Fyfe, Mundy
Collingwood: Sidebottom 2, Stephenson, Grundy, Hoskin-Elliott, Mihocek, Sier
BEST
Fremantle: Ryan, Fyfe, Serong, Taberner, Schultz
Collingwood: Treloar, Sidebottom, Noble, Moore
Reports: Nil
Injuries
Fremantle: Nil
Collingwood: Nil
Crowd: 20,912 at Optus Stadium