The Roos ruckman, in his 200th game, battled as manfully as any can against Aaron Sandilands and benefited from the giant Docker being sidelined with a suspected concussion for the latter parts of the game. North's victory over the Dockers follows wins over the Sydney Swans and GWS and a narrow 10-point loss to Richmond in the previous three weeks. It also puts them into fifth spot on the ladder after 10 rounds with a 6-4 record. They leapfrogged Port Adelaide this week, who didn’t play in round 10. Top notch: Roo Sam Durdin gets the jump on Docker Nat Fyfe at Optus Stadium. Credit:AAP The Roos did their best to lose to the Dockers though, and would have been kicking themselves on the plane ride back to Melbourne if they had.

Well, they would have tried to kick themselves, but probably would have missed. Poor goal kicking was the initial problem they had to overcome. Midway through the second quarter they trailed the home side by 12 points with a scoreline of 4.4 to 1.10. There was no single culprit, and some of the misses were from very gettable set shots. While they’d kicked just one goal in 40 minutes of football, they then booted three goals in four minutes to put them in front by a point at half-time. On the double: Coleman Medal leader Ben Brown was held to two goals against the Dockers. Credit:AAP

And with 31 inside 50s to the home side’s 19, North appeared to have most upside going into the main break. The Roos had done their best to keep them in the game, but the Dockers haven’t been a great second-half team this season. And they were unable to take advantage om the rebound when the Roos missed. Fremantle haven’t won a second half since their round five win over the Western Bulldogs. And the rain that fell after half-time didn’t seem to help. Jarrad Waite’s two goals in the third term didn’t help them either. Waite has been the beneficiary of Ben Brown’s great form this season.

But Waite has been a multiple goal kicker in his past six appearances leading into this round. His third goal, to start the final term, extended the Roos lead to 17 points, and he now has 22 goals for the season. Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters again showed how important they are to the Dockers' chances of winning this season. Walters was not only the most dangerous of the Dockers forwards, with two goals, but also gathered 27 possessions around the ground. Standout: Michael Walters was best on ground for Fremantle in Sunday's loss to North Melbourne. Credit:AAP

Commentary around the Fremantle captain being back to his Brownlow Medal-winning best form could be wrong, but he may be playing better football than he did in 2015 when he was crowned the best player in the competition. Fyfe picked up 31 touches, opposed to Ben Jacobs, who also got away for 29 of his own. Shaun Higgins also shrugged off the early tag from Bailey Banfield to enjoy a solid second half and finish with 24 possessions. North Melbourne have two games remaining before their bye, hosting the Brisbane Lions on Sunday at Etihad Stadium, then travelling down the highway to take on Geelong. Fremantle managed to stay in touch with the top eight thanks to wins at home, but now need to find a way to win outside of Perth. Before their bye they face Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday, Adelaide at home and then Carlton at Etihad Stadium.