THE WESTERN Bulldogs have celebrated captain Brad Johnson's record-breaking game in style by disposing of Fremantle by 31 points at Docklands on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs won 17.9 (111) to 11.14 (80), and extended their winning streak over the Purple Haze to five straight games despite dropping off at stages throughout the afternoon.

They have now won seven of their past nine matches, and will remain in the top four at the conclusion of round 18.

Meanwhile, Fremantle stays on four wins for the season, having now not won at Docklands since round 17, 2006, or in Melbourne since round four, 2007.

The lead-up to the match was all about Johnson, who broke former teammate Chris Grant's club record of 341 games with his appearance. 

Johnson didn't kick a goal, but he worked tirelessly for 22 touches and six tackles despite a corked thigh and the close checking of Chris Tarrant.   

The Bulldogs wore black armbands in tribute to Lindsay Gilbee's father, Lawrie, who passed away on Friday night after a short battle with cancer.

They were without injured forwards Robert Murphy, Shaun Higgins and Scott Welsh, but were buoyed by the goal-kicking contribution of Jason Akermanis (five goals) and Brennan Stack (four).

Daniel Cross had 35 touches and seven clearances, while Adam Cooney had 30 and Matthew Boyd an impressive 28, which included plenty of delivery into the forward line.

Matthew Pavlich (30 touches, two goals), Chris Mayne (three goals) and Greg Broughton (33 disposals) were Fremantle's best, while Kepler Bradley and Aaron Sandilands also impressed.

The first term was essentially played in two halves. In the first stage, the Bulldogs looked as though they deserved heavy favouritism as they rushed to a 29-point lead.

Led by Cross and Cooney, they got on top in the clearances despite Aaron Sandilands' dominance in the ruck and kept the ball away from the visitors, with their pressure forcing frequent turnovers.

However as the quarter entered red time, the Dogs let Fremantle hack away at their lead, with inaccurate kicking from Mark Harvey's men the only thing preventing a turnaround.

A goal to Mayne after the siren was Fremantle's only for the term, but a spate of points before that saw the quarter-time margin at 20 points.

The Bulldogs opened the second with three goals, with Mitch Hahn slotting the first when an ugly kick somehow found its way through the big sticks after just 30 seconds.

Akermanis snared the next two, which kick-started his impressive three-goal, six-possession quarter.

Mayne was Fremantle's answer as the Dogs threatened to run away with the contest, with the 20-year-old responding each time the home side pushed away.

He kicked two goals for the term, but his contribution along with goals to Bradley and Pavlich wasn't enough to counteract the spread of scorers the Dogs possessed.

Callan Ward booted his first at the 24-minute mark before Stack's third two minutes later had the Dogs 45 points clear.

Pavlich waited until the final moments of the half to register his first, which left the half-time margin at 39 points.

In the third, the Dogs again started strongly with Akermanis finding space to goal within three minutes.

Fremantle then managed three unanswered majors that cut the difference from 44 points to 26.

The only other six-pointer of the term went to Akermanis after some stalemate football, leaving the visitors with a 31-point deficit to reel in with a term to go.

Brian Lake gave away a 50m penalty in the opening minute, which gifted Stephen Hill a shot at goal. The youngster could manage a point, which was matched when Hahn hit the post at the other end.

Ward kicked his second four minutes in to give the Dogs some breathing space, which was extended with follow-ups to Cross and Stack.

The Bulldogs will now host West Coast at Docklands next Saturday, while Fremantle will play Port Adelaide at Subiaco on Sunday.

Western Bulldogs    5.2 12.4 14.6 17.9 (111)
Fremantle        1.6 5.8 8.11 11.14 (80) 

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Akermanis 5, Stack 4, Ward 2, Minson 2, Gilbee, Hill, Hahn, Cross
Fremantle: Mayne 3, Pavlich 2, Bradley 2, Sandilands, Grover, Ballantyne, de Boer

BEST
Western Bulldogs: Akermanis, Cross, Stack, Ward, Cooney, Hargrave, Boyd, Johnson
Fremantle: Pavlich, Broughton, Mayne, Sandilands, Bradley, Dodd

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Fremantle: Nil 

Reports: Ballantyne (Fremantle) reported for rough conduct against Picken (Western Bulldogs) in the third quarter

Umpires: Meredith, Avon, Mollison

Official crowd: 19,065 at Docklands

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs