Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse has warned his playing group their spots in the side are far from safe despite the club's stunning start to the AFL season.

The Magpies notched their seventh win of the year and surged a game clear on top of the table with a convincing 36-point victory over Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on Friday night, 20.13 (133) to 15.7 (97).

But with players of the ilk of Simon Prestigiacomo, Tarkyn Lockyer and Josh Fraser itching to get back into the side, and small forward Paul Medhurst likely to slot straight back in after a week out with a foot injury, Malthouse told his players they could ill afford to take their spots for granted.

"It was only a flip of the coin really whether Josh (Fraser) played or Cameron (Wood) played (against the Dockers)," Malthouse said.

"I guess possession is nine-tenths of the law.

"Right up until Wednesday in my mind it was going to be Josh (who played) and then I did some further research on games played over the last couple of years and thought we'd stick with what we had.

"This (depth) puts pressure on players to perform.

"Josh will play tomorrow (Saturday in the VFL), as will Simon Prestigiacomo and Tarkyn Lockyer.

"They will have their moment, like Shane O'Bree did, to come up (into the senior side) and perform within the side's structure.

"We will ensure players will have the right time at senior level, and we can't do that by (having them) playing seconds."

Fremantle were left to count the cost of their second loss of the season, with Luke McPharlin (knee), Greg Broughton (foot) and David Mundy (knee) all in doubt for Saturday's clash with Sydney at the SCG.

McPharlin injured the medial ligament in his knee and could be out for several weeks but Harvey was hopeful Broughton and Mundy had escaped serious injury after both played out the match.

Collingwood had 12 different goalscorers against the Dockers but Travis Cloke shone brightest with five goals as the Pies turned a 10-point lead at halftime into a match-winning 41-point advantage by the final change.

Scott Pendlebury, Alan Didak, Dane Swan, Ben Johnson and Luke Ball provided plenty of midfield grunt for the Pies but Harvey felt his team's fumbling effort played a big part in helping Collingwood to some easy goals.

"I thought we made too many errors, turnovers," Harvey said.

"There was a lot of fumbling done by our guys.

"They are quick to hit you with the counter patch ... it was reflective of some easy goals they got."

Malthouse refused to get carried away with his team's latest win and downplayed next Friday night's blockbuster against Geelong at the MCG.

"It's just another game of football in round nine. we won't even start to think about it," he said.

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