Geelong coach Chris Scott has lauded his side's inner belief after Shannon Neale's five goals powered the Cats to a stirring 10-point come-from-behind triumph over Fremantle.
Trailing by 35 points before half-time, Geelong stormed home in the second half to post a 16.14 (110) to 14.16 (100) victory at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
The Cats, who were belted by Gold Coast in the opening round, coughed up eight goals to the visiting Dockers in the first quarter.
But Max Holmes (32 touches, five clearances), Bailey Smith (30 disposals, one goal) and Tanner Bruhn (24 touches) came to the fore as the Cats logged 13 goals to six after quarter-time.
"The most important thing is the players had belief that if we did shift a few things that we could turn the momentum of the game," Scott said.
"It's a rare situation to have that belief when you've been so badly outplayed, you know, they were dominant.
"It's not as if we predicted that start, but we were well aware of the threat."
Fremantle posted their highest-ever first-quarter score outside WA, leading 8.4 to 3.1 at the first change after Luke Jackson, Hayden Young and Andrew Brayshaw got on top early.
"We thought we allowed them to do what they do best a bit too much, so when there was a bit more pressure around the ball, we thought like we gave ourselves a bit more of an even chance," Scott said.
"It obviously wasn't going to get fixed in the next quarter - it had to be a belief that over the course of the next three quarters we could work our way into the game.
"I'm proud of them for believing in the plan and getting it done."
Jackson did his best for Fremantle with 27 disposals, 22 hit-outs, 10 clearances and a goal, and Caleb Serong (30 disposals, eight clearances, one goal) worked tirelessly.
Josh Treacy (two goals, eight marks) was a constant target forward of the ball and Isaiah Dudley kicked three majors.
But Dockers coach Justin Longmuir lamented "sloppy" errors that squandered scoring chances and left his team vulnerable in defence.
They led at every change, but not when it mattered most.
"We were disappointed with the way we handled the second half and disappointed with how we handled the last quarter," Longmuir said.
"We didn't defend Geelong well enough and when we did create opportunities back the other way we just couldn't tie our work off.
"We kicked 3.8 in the second half."
Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield missed the opening round with a calf injury and started slowly against the Dockers, but pulled in two huge contested marks that led to goals.
Jeremy Cameron kicked three goals on return from a quad injury and his tally was matched by Shaun Mannagh, who kicked his three in nine minutes during the second quarter.
