Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has hailed his side's growing maturity after star ruckman Luke Jackson sparked a dramatic turnaround in a 26-point win over North Melbourne.
Trailing by 33 points midway through the second term, the Dockers rattled off nine consecutive goals in a stunning fightback and held firm late in the match to clinch a 15.12 (102) to 11.10 (76) victory at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
Best-afield Jackson kicked two goals from 24 disposals and had seven clearances in a vital contribution as the Dockers claimed consecutive wins to open a campaign for the first time since 2015.
North have two losses ahead of their Good Friday feature match against Carlton.
Jackson, Andrew Brayshaw (27 disposals, four clearances) and Caleb Serong (35, eight) breathed life into the Dockers when they desperately needed it before halftime.
They were also important contributors after the main break, as Fremantle kicked the first seven goals in a third-quarter onslaught to take a stranglehold on the contest.
But it was a different story in the early stages, when almost everything went the Kangaroos' way.
"We just got annihilated in the contest in the first half, and to (North's) credit they were really impressive," Longmuir said.
"They played with a far greater intensity than us, which was disappointing .. we had no answer to them.
"I was pleased with the way the players kept their heads because I felt like, on reflection, that might've been a game we lost last year.
"It's a sign of maturity, learning from our lessons of last year and the amount of work we've done on scenarios and that type of thing over the pre-season.
"Communication, connection, leadership and our mental game to be able to put bad moments or quarters or halves behind us - all of those things were positive."
Dashing defender Jordan Clark (28 touches) and Hayden Young (21) also played significant roles for Fremantle, while Matt Taberner, Bailey Banfield and Michael Frederick (two each) joined Jackson in kicking multiple goals.
Former Dockers captain Nat Fyfe (19 disposals, one goal) had an influence before he was substituted out of the game at three-quarter time.
"We were just saving his legs," Longmuir said.
"We're on a six-day break and he had a bit of a tight back that he was managing in-game.
"As soon as I saw him getting work on it at three-quarter time I asked him the question and he was open to it (being substituted).
"We had a midfielder on the bench in Jaeger (O'Meara), so it seemed like a really obvious swap."
North midfielders Luke Davies-Uniacke (30 disposals, nine clearances) and Tom Powell (28, eight) had a big say in their side's early dominance, but they were overwhelmed by Fremantle's spread of contributors.
Harry Sheezel was busy with 35 disposals for the Kangaroos, while Powell, Paul Curtis and Cameron Zurhaar finished with two goals each.
Coach Alastair Clarkson lamented North's inability to put the game to bed when they were on top in the first half.
"There was enough evidence there that we can play an exciting brand of footy and restrict a pretty good opposition," Clarkson said.
"We saw really strong evidence of that in the first half.
"It was eight goals to three and we had three (set) shots at goal in a two-minute period that might've nearly been enough to really force Fremantle to change."
