FREMANTLE held off a plucky Brisbane Lions by 36 points in a brutal wet-weather slog to maintain its two-game buffer at the top of the ladder.
But the Dockers had to work exceptionally hard to beat the Lions after the visitors served it up to them for three quarters.
The Lions led at quarter-time and trailed by just three points at the last change but the Dockers found an extra gear in the last term, kicking seven goals to one to seal the 13.6 (84) to 7.6 (48) victory.
The Lions belied their inexperience and lowly ladder position to match the Dockers in their physicality.
The two sides combined for second most number of tackles recorded in a game with a total of 233. Only Richmond and Port Adelaide in round 10, 2010 have combined for more in a single game with 258.
The Lions narrowly edged the clearances (52-50), but the Dockers finally arrested midfield control in the last quarter and they capitalised on a mountain of inside 50s.
"(It was) a bit of a grind," Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said.
"Credit to a really young team. I thought they really came and brought a lot of pressure to the game. I don't think we adapted to the conditions very well. We were one to one kick to handballs. Around the stoppages we had it, we just got stripped a fair bit, which is a credit to their pressure, but we should have just kicked it out more."
They kicked six goals from 39 entries in the first three quarters before kicking seven goals from 14 entries in the last.
Lions coach Justin Leppitsch said his side produced a similar effort to last week against Adelaide but could not finish it off.
"(It was) a bit of déjà vu wasn't it from this week to last week," Leppitsch said.
Watch Justin Leppitsch Press Conference
"We were highly competitive again, just lacked a bit of polish and class to finish and they had it. (They) got us over the back a few times, they were very accurate in that last quarter, they kicked 7.1, which didn't help the scoreline.
"But I guess you have to be pleased with the competitive effort of our group given the opposition we were up against."
Michael Walters kicked four goals for the second week in row and Matthew Pavlich returned to form with three goals after three goalless weeks.
David Mundy collected 30 disposals while Nat Fyfe and Lachie Neale had 27 each.
Matthew Leuenberger was outstanding for the Lions up against Aaron Sandilands. The big Lion almost leveled the hit-outs (51-53), booted two goals and also laid nine tackles.
Dayne Beams gathered 30 touches, had 10 clearances and 11 tackles, while Jack Redden, Josh Green and Mitch Robinson all laid more than 11 tackles.
FREMANTLE 3.0 5.2 6.5 13.6 (84)
BRISBANE LIONS 3.2 5.2 6.2 7.6 (48)
GOALS
Fremantle: Walters 4, Pavlich 3, D.Pearce 2, Barlow, Clarke, Ballantyne, Neale
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger 2, Green, Robinson, Bewick, McStay, Taylor
BEST
Fremantle: Walters, Fyfe, Pavlich, Mundy, Spurr, Neale
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Beams, Redden, Green Rich
INJURIES
Fremantle: TBA
Brisbane Lions: TBA
SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Matt de Boer replaced Matt Taberner in the third quarter
Brisbane Lions: Sam Mayes replaced Brent Staker in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Bannister, Dalgleish
Official crowd: 32,970 at Domain Stadium
