1. Midfield spread torches Geelong
Fremantle is renowned for its toughness and grit around stoppages, but when the Dockers' outside run proves as potent as it was against Geelong, it's pretty much game over. Aaron Sandilands provided first use and midfielders David Mundy, Nat Fyfe, Michael Barlow and Stephen Hill lapped it up. Mundy was dominant, finishing with a game-high 39 disposals, while Fyfe (36 and three goals) was brilliant and only added to his standing as one of the top five players in the AFL. Hill's pace was too much for Geelong to handle, as time and again he would end up near the end of another Fremantle scoring chain.

2. Geelong's giant nemesis
Sandilands has had his way with Geelong in the past and it continued on Sunday. With his midfield on song, Sandilands' advantage against Dawson Simpson – who was subbed out of the game in the third quarter – Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs became even more pronounced. The 211cm big man ended the day with 51 hit-outs to stamp himself as clearly the game's dominant ruckman. He also got in the way of the Geelong forwards on numerous occasions as the Dockers held the Cats to nine goals for the game.

3. Johnson holds Hawkins
Despite giving away a few centimetres in height and up to 15kg in weight, Fremantle's Michael Johnson played a superb game opposed to Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins. With Zac Dawson still sidelined, Johnson stepped up in a big way as he held Hawkins to just three marks and two goals. Johnson's rebound from the back half was equally important as he ended the day with 24 disposals and nine marks. Ross Lyon can also pat himself on the back after the deployment of a loose man in defence – often Garrick Ibbotson – made life extremely difficult for Hawkins and fellow tall Mitch Clark.

4. Stanley a long-term project for Cats
The athletic big man was brought to Geelong in the off-season to address a lack of ruck depth and it looked an inspired move early when the former Saint kicked two early goals to lift the locals to their feet. But, after such a limited pre-season with bone bruising in his leg, the 24-year-old faded out of the game to finish with 11 disposals. The Cats view Stanley as a long-term project, however, and are likely to persist with him and Mark Blicavs as they provide versatility not many other teams in the competition have.

5. Cats' concerns
The changing of the guard had occurred well before the Cats' round two clash with Fremantle, but the inexperience in Geelong's team was hard to ignore on Sunday. Without Jimmy Bartel (concussion) and Steven Motlop (club-imposed suspension), the Cats' team consisted of four players with fewer than 10 games' experience: Jed Bews (eight games), Darcy Lang (three), Cory Gregson (two) and Nakia Cockatoo (two). It was a contributing factor in why Geelong lost its first two games in a row to start a season since 2004.