MATURE-AGE recruit Michael Barlow has thrilled in his record-breaking AFL debut, inspiring Fremantle to a 56-point win over Adelaide at Subiaco Oval on Sunday night.

Fremantle stunned the Crows with six straight second-quarter goals to set up a 36-point half-time lead and, while briefly challenged, motored away to win 17.16 (118) to 9.8 (62).

Barlow started the game in the centre square and rarely shifted, seeing off a series of experienced opponents and finishing with 33 possessions and two goals. He beat former Brisbane Lion Bradd Dalziell’s record of 32 possessions on debut since Champion Data began recording statistics in 1992.

The 22-year-old kicked the game-sealing goal eight minutes into the final term and roved superbly all night to dominant ruckman Aaron Sandilands, who towered over Kurt Tippett and Jon Griffin to have 33 hit-outs and 21 possessions.  

The young Fremantle side appeared to have made a quantum leap since the end of 2009 and won its first round-one clash since 2005.

David Mundy (28 possessions), Stephen Hill (25), Matthew Pavlich (22 and three goals) and Greg Broughton (32) were all key players in a supreme team performance that saw 11 players finish with 20-plus disposals.     

Alex Silvagni and Anthony Morabito also debuted for Fremantle and made valuable contributions, Morabito kicking a 60m running goal as Adelaide mounted their third-quarter challenge.

Coach Mark Harvey said he was pleased with the side’s pressure, but he was quick to play down both his side’s performance and Barlow’s.

“I’m not into talking about just Barlow, I thought [the] team point of view was the more important line,” Harvey said.

“You have to be careful that you don’t get carried away, because we do have to reload quite quickly against the Bombers next weekend.

“There’s a lot of the unknown factor going into the game, and I was more pleased with how we pressured and harassed Adelaide whenever they got the ball.”

Goals were hard to come by early, but not for lack of effort, the game starting at break-neck pace with both sides running hard and in numbers off half-back.

Chris Mayne was a constant forward target for Fremantle, but missed his first two gettable shots on goal before opening his side’s account after 20 minutes.

With scores level entering the second term, Barlow lifted. The first-gamer won 13 possessions for the term and set up a number of goals as Hayden Ballantyne, Pavlich and Des Headland got on the scoreboard early.

When Luke McPharlin spotted Mayne unmarked in a crowded forward 50m, Fremantle was out to a 42-point lead.

When playing forward, Tippett had been well-held by Chris Tarrant, but the powerful forward kicked the Crows first for the second half as his side went on to kick three of the next four goals.

When Thompson kicked his second consecutive goal the margin had been dragged back to 17-points, but Fremantle steadied to take a 25-point lead into the final term before slamming on five unanswered goals.

Fremantle          2.5   9.9   12.11    17.16 (118)
Adelaide            2.3   4.3   9.4        9.8 (62)

GOALS
Fremantle: Headland, Pavlich 3; Barlow, Mayne 2; Ballantyne, Ibbotson, Silvagni, Crowley, Morabito, Johnson, Mundy.
Adelaide: Walker 4; Thompson 2; Dangerfield, Bock, Tippett.

BEST
Fremantle: Barlow, Sandilands, Mundy, Hill, Duffield, Pavlich, Broughton
Adelaide: Thompson, Walker, Edwards, Reilly

INJURIES
Fremantle: Crowley (shoulder)
Adelaide: Sloane (ankle), Walker (concussion)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Kennedy, Nicholls, Keating

Official crowd: 30,976 at Subiaco Oval