GEELONG 1.3 6.7 8.11 11.12 (78)
FREMANTLE 4.1 7.2 7.3 9.7 (61)
GOALS - Geelong: Dangerfield 4, Smith 2, Menzel, Murdoch, Cockatoo, Stanley, Hawkins.
Fremantle: Blakely, Sutcliffe, Mundy, Ballantyne, Weller, Barlow, Pavlich, Taberner, Walters.
BEST - Geelong: Dangerfield, Selwood, Enright, Smith, Mackie, Kolodjashnij.
Fremantle: Hill, Mundy, Walters, Dawson, Blakely, Pavlich.
UMPIRES - Dalgleish, Findlay, Mitchell.
Crowd: 31,042 at Domain Stadium.
Geelong's 17-point win over Fremantle on Friday night did nothing to instil any great confidence in the Cats' 2016 premiership credentials.
However, Patrick Dangerfield would not have lost any admirers as far as his favouritism for the Brownlow Medal is concerned.
The brilliant season of the Cats star recruit continued its tour of the country with a match-winning display at Domain Stadium in Perth.
He kept his struggling side in the contest in the first half, with three goals and 18 touches. He finished with 31 possessions and four of his side's 11 goals.
As far as the final ladder is concerned, we continue to see just how close the fight for spots inside the top eight is. On Thursday night, the Sydney Swans were on top of the ladder with just over a minute to go in their contest against Hawthorn at the SCG.
But when the final siren sounded, the Hawks had moved to first place, with the Swans relegated to second. It's possible that they could slip to as low as sixth spot by the end of this round.
Conversely, Geelong trailed Fremantle by one point at half-time on Friday night and the live ladder had them in seventh spot.
If the Dockers had have continued their run; if Michael Walters had have continued his dominance in attack; if Lachie Neale had have continued to lead clearances; if Stephen Hill had have continued to provide run out of the Dockers defence, Geelong could have been left in eighth spot by Sunday night.
Instead, the Cats found a way to claw out an ugly win and wake up on Saturday morning in fourth spot, just three per cent behind the Swans. If they'd scored a few more goals, they would have only had the Hawks in front of them.
Can Geelong stay in the four? That's debatable. The next fortnight could determine the Cats' fate, with games against Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, both at Simonds Stadium.
Dangerfield was sore at half-time against the Dockers, having taken hits to a knee and a hip and then he landed awkwardly on his shoulder in the final term.
It's unlikely that Dangerfield will be able to enjoy a rest in either of those games either. But if the Cats can win both of those, Chris Scott will surely look to rest his champion over the run home, with games all against sides outside of the eight – Essendon, Richmond, Brisbane and Melbourne.
There is a lot for the Cats to work on, especially in attack, if they are going to finish in the top four.
Scott opted for the tall forward line of Tom Hawkins, Shane Kersten and Rhys Stanley against the Dockers. Mitch Clark was left out after a disappointing return to AFL level last weekend.
But at half-time against the Dockers, enjoying a 31-17 inside 50 advantage, Hawkins had touched the ball once and Kersten and Stanley just five times apiece. They had one mark inside their attacking 50m between them.
Dangerfield had two.
At quarter-time, the Dockers led by 16 points, having dominated clearances (11-4) and leading the tackle count (16-14).
By half-time Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Zac Smith had started to win the ball at stoppages. Stanley kicked the Cats' first goal from a clearances eight minutes into the second term to take the margin back to four points and put Geelong back into the contest.
In the second half, the Cats gradually gained some momentum.
With 50 entries into attack, nine marks in the forward line was not enough.
But as has been the Dockers' problem all season, Pavlich wasn't able to inspire them all night; Walters wasn't able to do the miraculous all night and Neale and David Mundy couldn't carry the midfield all night.
While Hill maintained his standards throughout with a career-high 37 possessions, it didn't help that Michael Barlow couldn't play most of the second half because of a shoulder injury.
Barlow, who has re-found form in the past couple of months as a run-with midfielder, had last weekend's loss to Melbourne with a broken finger.
He was outstanding again before being forced from the ground, with 17 touches and a goal.
Just as concerning for the Cats, was the loss of Lachie Henderson, who copped a solid knock in a marking contest with Chris Mayne and he hit the ground hard – and needed to be stretchered from the ground midway through the third term. He had been a solid defender for the Cats in the opening half.
Despite the loss of Henderson, the Dockers had their own issues in attack and were only able to score two goals after half-time from 23 entries into their forward line.