1. If Tom Cole did nothing else in the RAC Derby he ensured he would feature in highlights packages forever with a magnificent chase down of Fremantle key forward Matt Taberner in the opening term. Taberner had marked over Jeremy McGovern in the goal square, McGovern losing his balance in the contest. Taberner thought he would turn, take a couple of steps and finish the task with a goal. But Cole produced a Usain Bolt-like sprint and applied a desperate tackle that saw the ball jar over the line for a behind. He’ll get a lot of love for that in the team meeting this week.

00:29

Cole snuck up on him like a librarian

Tom Cole shows Fremantle why you always have to be paying attention

2. In the eyes of Fremantle supporters Andrew Gaff is public enemy No.1 and they were keen to remind him. Fortunately they had ample opportunity to do so as Gaff produced a typically hard-running performance through the midfield. There would be some hoarse Dockers fans today as Gaff accumulated 24 possessions, five of them contested, and his team gained 481 metres from his influence.

3. In a season where there has been little consistency, one of the constants for the Eagles has been the form of star defender Brad Sheppard. No one has been in better touch, regardless of the role he is asked to play in the back half and he was again prominent. Fremantle tried to negate the influence of Jeremy McGovern by having Bailey Banfield “tag” him, but Sheppard went to Banfield and picked up 23 touches and 10 marks – and used the ball at 100 percent efficiency. He is always on the voting sheet for the Glendinning-Allan Medal and tied with Tim Kelly to be one vote behind 250-game veteran Josh Kennedy.

02:22

McGovern post-match v Dockers

Stand-in skipper Jeremy McGovern chats to Eagles Media after an important win in RAC Derby 51!

4. All of the numbers pointed to a dominant performance and the Eagles coaching staff would have enjoyed browsing over the algorithms post-game. The victors had 46 more disposals, 39 more uncontested marks, 41 inside 50 entries to 26 and won the contested possession battle 122 to 113. Those key performance indicators have been on the upward trend in the last few weeks, coinciding with three consecutive victories.

5. Midfield bulls Elliot Yeo and Tim Kelly thrived in what was a hotly-contested game. Yeo relishes matches of this nature and was again among the best afield while Kelly, in his first RAC Derby, also excelled. Yeo gathered 20 disposals to Kelly’s 18, while they had 14 and 11 contested possessions, seven and five clearances and 11 and nine ground ball gets respectively, to kick-start the Eagles midfield.