Geelong's decorated midfield ripped Fremantle to shreds as the Cats overcame a sluggish start to post a 31-point AFL practice match victory at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

The Dockers led by 30 points midway through the second quarter but conceded 12 of the next 13 goals as the likes of Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett inspired the visitors to the 16.12 (96) to 10.5 (65) win.

Geelong booted eight unanswered goals in the third quarter and Fremantle coach Mark Harvey lamented his side's poor work in close, with the Cats winning the contested ball 124-80.

"We actually won three quarters ... (but) the third quarter was an issue," Harvey said.

"That's something we need to address.

"They were a lot cleaner, a lot stronger in the contest.

"Contested ball would be alarming from our point of view.

"If you win three quarters it suggests you're doing something OK.

"It's just when we are starting to lose control of the game that we need players stand up better than what they did when Geelong kicked eight goals in that third quarter."

Geelong entered the match missing only Joel Corey (knee), Max Rooke (knee) and the retired Tom Harley from last year's premiership side.

But the Cats used just 24 players for the match compared to Fremantle's 27, with Geelong's coaching staff eager to give their charges extra game time after last week's hit-out against Brisbane was called off due to the wild weather in Melbourne.

Bartel (28 possessions, two goals), Selwood (31 disposals), Ablett, Cameron Ling and Paul Chapman were influential in Geelong's fightback, while defender Harry Taylor kept Fremantle spearhead Matthew Pavlich goalless.

But the Cats didn't escape unscathed, with Selwood suffering a slight knock to his ankle late in the match and both Steve Johnson and James Podsiadly copping knocks to the head.

"We had a lot of guys with cut heads today and a lot of guys coming off with knocks which probably showed we put our head over the ball a bit better than we did in the first few NAB Cup games," Geelong assistant coach Brenton Sanderson said.

"At this stage I think we are going to be fine.

"There's a few guys with sore heads and a few stitches, and Selwood had a bit of a knock but we'll assess that during the week."

Geelong will play an intra-club match on Thursday to round out their pre-season campaign and Sanderson said Corey was on track to play round one of the season proper.

Former VFL star Michael Barlow all-but secured his promotion to Fremantle's senior list and a round-one berth with yet another standout performance, while Aaron Sandilands was a tower of strength in the ruck with 37 hit-outs and Roger Hayden was prolific in defence.

But Adam McPhee's horror pre-season campaign continued, the former Bomber turning the ball over time and again in another poor performance.

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