Fremantle has won its third match this season, overcoming a 34-point deficit on their way to soundly defeating Melbourne by 46 points at Subiaco on Sunday.

In an almost mirror image of the two clubs' last encounter, where the Dees won by a goal after being 50 points down at half-time, the Dockers gave Melbourne a six-goal start, but overwhelmed their opponents during the second and third quarters, scoring 11 goals to two on their way to a 16.18 (114) to 10.8 (68) victory.

Indeed, the Dockers were so bad during the first quarter they only managed two behinds as Melbourne ran riot with five goals. But once Fremantle got its running game going, it stormed over the top of Melbourne, pressuring its opponent into mistake after mistake as the Dees managed just five more majors from quarter-time on.

Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich scored five goals, set up five others and earned 28 touches along the way, while regular full-back Luke McPharlin exposed an inexperienced Melbourne defence with three goals.

Midfielder Byron Schammer (27 disposals) also played one of his best games, lifting the hosts through the middle during the decisive second term, snapping an impressive goal from 50 metres out in the process.

Melbourne, though, arrived at Subiaco, looking to make a statement against fellow struggler Fremantle, and in the first term appeared set to give the Dockers a royal belting.

With Fremantle's midfield lacking players like Peter Bell (retired), Dean Solomon (suspended) and young gun Rhys Palmer (rested), the Dockers struggled to work cohesively, opting to bomb long into the forward line more in hope than anything else.

Buoyed by a distinct lack of pressure from Fremantle, Melbourne took the ball out of defence time after time, running fluidly through the middle as Aaron Davey and ruckman Paul Johnson carved up the opposition, with Cale Morton booting two for the quarter as the Dockers remained goalless.

Booed by their supporters at quarter-time, it looked like things were only getting worse for the Dockers when Mark Jamar converted at the five-minute mark of the second term.

But, after five minutes of terrible fumbles and bumbles, Garrick Ibbotson snapped truly, rousing the restless Subiaco crowd and sparking a massive momentum shift.

With Schammer and Michael Johnson running the lines and impressive youngster Brock O'Brien forcing numerous turnovers, the Dockers were transformed, suddenly finding targets at will as they entered their forward 50, 20 times to seven in the second term,