Collingwoodfc.com.au recaps the Magpies’ 29-point win over Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

The Result
Collingwood 15.17 (107)
Fremantle 12.6 (78)

Goals - Dawes 3, Goldsack 2, Swan 2, Cloke 2, Paine 2, Thomas 2, Beams, Buckley
Disposals - Swan 43, Beams 32, Blair 32, Wellingham 29, Thomas 26, Sidebottom 26

Collingwood was never really troubled but never managed to blow Fremantle out of the water in an intriguing match that saw the Magpies eventually run out 29-point winners. The Dockers booted only two goals in the first half but managed 10 in the second half, including six straight in the last quarter as Matthew Pavlich kicked five to take his tally to 14 from his past three games.

Click here to watch the CTV highlights.

Dane Swan motored through the midfield, gathering 43 possessions, two goals and seven tackles in a monumental performance. Fourth year pair Dayne Beams and Jarryd Blair gave him ample support around the stoppages with each winning 32 disposals. Blair’s 32 touches marked a career high.

Bucks’ take
“Speaking to the players after the game, we could spend our whole review and post match looking at the things we didn't do, and there's still plenty of areas we want to improve. But fundamentally, we're doing a lot right. It's a tough competition to back up week in, week out, and to find the necessary effort, endeavour and intensity to be able to meet and surpass the opposition's and then play the game on your terms as well.” - Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.

Hear more from Bucks in his post match press conference.

Over the fence
“If you had of been a Freo Dockers' member or fan watching, you'd have said, this team hasn't given up. We're a team that, no matter what result we were getting, we just kept persisting and persevering against what is a really good team. We take a lot out of it, but ultimately, failure is feedback.” - Fremantle coach Ross Lyon.

Read the match report here.

Awesome Dawesome
Chris Dawes played one of his best matches for the season, booting three goals as a key forward while winning a career-high eight hitouts against Zac Clarke and Jonathon Griffin. It was the first time Dawes has scored a goal since the win against Geelong in round eight and his biggest haul in front of goal since last year’s Preliminary Final win over Hawthorn. Dawes also teamed well with youngster Jackson Paine who slotted through two goals of his own and ended the day with 15 possessions.

The tackling machine
National Recruiting Manager Derek Hine knew what he was buying when he went shopping at the trade table last October. For the price of selection No. 25, Hine’s recruiting team acquired Marty Clarke and 19-year-old Murray Bushranger Jamie Elliott. At the time, Hine described him as a player that he would be “disappointed if he didn't play senior footy (next year).  His ability to apply forward pressure is very high-end.” That high-end forward pressure saw Elliott lay 15 tackles in Collingwood’s win against the Dockers in only his fifth match of senior footy. Ten of them were laid inside 50, lifting his season average to six per match.

View the best photos from Collingwood's 29-point win.

Ruling the land of the giants
With the 211cm Aaron Sandilands back in Perth resting up a toe injury, Darren Jolly took control of the ruck with 43 hitouts and 18 possessions. Both tallies are notable. His hitout count is his highest since arriving at Collingwood and the fifth most prolific of his career. In distributing 18 disposals, Jolly notched his highest total since round 21, 2010.

The medical room
Fortunately for the Magpies, no major injuries were reported from this weekend’s round of matches, although Tyson Goldsack required some running repairs after a head clash with Docker Nick Lower in the third quarter.

Irishman cometh
Not too many players receiving a standing ovation as they hit the field after starting as a substitute, but that was the fate of 19-year-old Irishman Caolan Mooney. The rookie, promoted to the senior list in place of the injured Lachlan Keeffe, earned the applause of the Magpie faithful when he won a holding the ball tackle immediately after coming onto the field in the final quarter and showed his Road Runner-eque pace when he scooted inside 50 and set up one of Dawes’ three goals.

Watch the CTV highlights, including Jamie Elliott’s tackling, here.

Consider this
Midfielder Jarryd Blair continues to quietly plug away in the engine room. He hunted down a career-high 32 disposals and laid eight tackles. It means he has now recorded five of his top 10 possession counts in his 12 matches so far this season. As a comparison, after his first 12 senior games in 2010, he had won 177 disposals. At the same juncture two years later, he’s won 248 touches and has had six more shots at goal despite spending more time in the centre.

What does it mean?
-    Collingwood stays outright top of the AFL ladder for the second week in succession.
-    One of our Twitter followers, @xdiddiox, told us that since the start of 2010, Collingwood has played in 44 matches at the MCG and in only 10 have we have kicked to the Punt Road end first. As Fremantle won the toss, they tried the Ponsford Stand for some extra luck. It didn’t hinder the Pies as they kicked three goals to nil in the opening quarter.
-    Jarryd Blair must have made one of the most successful starts to a career of any player in recent history. He has played in 41 wins from 48 matches since debuting in round 14, 2010. He only narrowly falls short of Joel Selwood’s blistering start for Geelong. Selwood played in 44 wins in his first 48 matches.

VFL
Driving rain didn’t dampen Collingwood’s spirits as it recorded its third win of the season against Frankston at Victoria Park on Sunday. On a bitterly cold Melbourne afternoon, the Magpies found their inspiration through Marty Clarke who was in a class of his own as he rounded up 31 disposals and two goals from half back. Paul Seedsman, Tom Young and Josh Thomas all provided him with strong support around the ground.

Looking ahead…
After playing the two West Australian teams in successive weeks, Collingwood now embarks on a stretch of three matches against some of the competition’s strongest Victorian sides. But before assignments against Geelong and Hawthorn, the Magpies must take on the oldest of enemies, Carlton, at the MCG on Friday night. Expect a massive crowd and high stakes to provide the backdrop to one of the biggest games of the season.