Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich kicked his 500th career goal, as the Dockers overpowered Port Adelaide by 40 points at Subiaco to break into the top eight.
The loss was Port Adelaide's sixth defeat in a row, putting more pressure on embattled coach Matthew Primus.
The Power started strongly, attempting to draw a line under the proverbial week from hell since its insipid performance against Richmond last weekend.
But after taking an early lead, Port Adelaide produced a very patchy display, with a lot of skill errors.
The Power was still just in the contest at three-quarter time, despite Fremantle having 22 scoring shots to 10 at that point.
Dockers coach Ross Lyon delivered a ferocious spray to his players at the final break, and the message stuck, as his team kicked four goals to one in the final term to seal the win.
Port captain Domenic Cassisi told Grandstand his team had tried to remain focused despite what he called "a tough week".
"Today I thought our efffort, our contested stuff was pretty good," Cassisi said.
"What really let us down was our skill level once again, so we need to keep working on that - until we can tidy that up, we are going to make life pretty hard for ourselves."
Following the Richmond game, which Port Adelaide lost by 37 points at Football Park, the Power received a barrage of criticism with some media outlets saying it was time for Primus to go.
On Sunday Cassisi defended Port Adelaide's start to the year, despite the setbacks.
"We thought prior to last week, the 10 weeks we had including the NAB Cup were more than capable," he said.
"Last week was totally unacceptable, the criticism we copped was probably a little bit over the top but we've just got to move on."
The highlight of the match came with five minutes left in the match, as a mark in the left forward pocket gave Pavlich a chance to reach the milestone.
He did not disappoint, kicking truly to prompt a huge roar and a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Pavlich becomes the 51st AFL / VFL player to reach 500 goals.
He is now the third highest active goalkicker in the AFL, behind only St Kilda's Stephen Milne (501) and Brisbane's Johnathan Brown (504).
The Dockers now face another tough trip to Tasmania to play Hawthorn at York Park.
Fremantle defender Michael Johnson told Grandstand that the Dockers were beginning to adapt to coach Ross Lyon's new game style.
"(The style) is a lot more defence, getting the defence right and working from there," Johnson said.
"The only thing letting us down right now is the midfield clearances ... but the guys are getting more used to the game plan (Lyon) brought over, we're 5-2, the guys are pretty happy at the moment."
Dockers: 12.15 (87) - Pavlich 4, Mayne 3, Crowley, Ballantyne, Pearce, De Boer, Sandilands.
Port: 7.5 (47) - Butcher 2, Broadbent 2, P Stewart, Westhoff, Ebert.
Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, wa, subiaco-6008 First posted May 13, 2012 19:51:45
