Nathan Buckley has heaped praise Fremantle for their “clinical” performance in the round one thumping of North Melbourne.

The Collingwood coach cast a keen eye over weekend proceedings after his side was beaten by Geelong on Friday night.

He was impressed by Ross Lyon’s Dockers, who bucked the trend of recent years by kicking the highest score of the round.

It’s not too late to sign up for tipping and Pick 7 fantasy! There’s great weekly cash prizes and the automatic chance to win a Mazda BT-50... Register to play The Game tipping and fantasy today!

“They’ve probably set themselves up for a lot of run-and-gun, definitely a lot of straight line and taking the game on,” Buckley told SEN.

Don't miss the latest sports news! Was $13 now $7 per week for 12 weeks* (Digital + Print) Enjoy unlimited access to thewest.com.au and everyday digital editions on any device. Thursday - Monday papers home delivered with all of the latest footy news! *T&Cs apply

“It was so quick. They were playing against a side that wanted to play really quick as well.

“That first 10 minutes, it was on. It was really hot, there was no just no space and it looked like a finals game, to be honest.

“But they were able to sustain it and their connection inside front half was really strong. They were clinical in the way they went about it.”

Buckley said he had seen early signs of Fremantle’s style in the JLT series encounter at HBF Arena (Joondalup) earlier this month.

“We played Freo three or four weeks ago and felt pretty happy with the way we went about that game, but they turned the ball over a lot in our back half and were able to hold the ball in the territory for a considerable amount of that game,” Buckley said.

“They were able to do it against North as well.”

Fremantle will start favourites when they take on Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.