The Dogs set up their win with a dazzling nine-goal opening term, during which Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen ran riot in the midfield.
Griffen ended the match with 24 possessions and three goals, and the returning Barry Hall finished with four majors, as the Bulldogs booted their highest score of the season to prevail 24.14 (158) to 12.4 (76).
The home side dominated all over the park, with Ben Hudson getting the better of Aaron Sandilands in the ruck, while Cooney (36 touches), Matthew Boyd, Jordan Roughead, Jarrod Harbrow and Daniel Cross (in his 150th game) were other important contributors.
Afterwards, a happy Dogs coach Rodney Eade said the Akermanis situation had not been discussed in the hours leading up to the game.
“The focus was more the opponent and the top four,” he said.
“We knew what was at stake and … we knew we had to work hard to beat a side that’s been playing pretty well.”
For the visitors, captain Matthew Pavlich had little impact on the result despite kicking four goals.
The visitors are also set to cop a fine, because David Mundy (severe stomach cramps) was replaced in their side by Paul Hasleby after the team sheets had been finalised.
“I’d actually notified Rocket [Eade] that it had happened,” Fremantle coach Mark Harvey explained after the match.
“I didn’t say who the player was, I just said we had a player that was crook and we may have to make a late change and he was fine with that.
“It was out on the table.”
Eade agreed that he was not fazed by the late change.
“Even though you can play hard ball because you want to get a win, I think in that situation - and we’re all going to be in that situation at some stage when someone gets sick or hurt in the warm up - if you let the opposition know, I haven’t got a drama,” he said.
It was a dirty day all round for the visitors, as the Bulldogs put on a brilliant display of fast and efficient football.
They did the damage in the initial half-hour, with superstar Brian Lake kick-starting their charge.
Having lined up at full-forward, the usual defender made the most of some superb delivery from Cooney to boot the first two goals of the match.
By quarter-time, Griffen had bobbed up with three majors of his own, including a 60-metre bomb on the run, and the Bulldogs enjoyed a 39-point lead.
Eade’s men continued their charge in the second stanza.
When Hall, who had an entertaining duel with McPharlin, slotted his fourth goal in the 13th minute, they were 50 points up.
The margin was 57 by the long break and the contest was all but over.
“With the Bulldogs, if you let them kick the ball around uncontested you’re asking for trouble,” Harvey said.
“Too often we allowed that to happen.”
Freo, which has fallen to fifth on the ladder, was a fraction more competitive in the second half, but the heavy defeat has severely dented their hopes of making an impact in the finals.
In contrast, the Bulldogs will be aiming to continue their charge towards September when they front up against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium next Sunday.
“[The top four] is in our control now. We don’t rely on other teams winning or losing,” Eade said.
“It’s really up to us. We’re certainly under no illusions; we’ve got a solid draw and there are good teams just below us.
“We just need to keep winning.”
Western Bulldogs 9.3 14.5 18.9 24.14 (158)
Fremantle 3.0 5.2 9.3 12.4 (76)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Hall 4, Griffen 3, Lake 3, Grant 3, Moles 2, Johnson 2, Picken 2, Higgins 2, Cooney, Wood, Giansiracusa
Fremantle: Pavlich 4, Johnson, Ballantyne, Hasleby, McPhee, Crichton, Palmer, Fyfe, Ibbotson
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Griffen, Cooney, Boyd, Hudson, Murphy, Roughead, Cross, Harbrow
Fremantle: McPharlin, Suban, Hayden, Johnson, Pavlich
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Fremantle: Mundy (severe stomach cramps) out, replaced in selected side by Hasleby
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Chamberlain, McInerney
Official crowd: 26,797 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
