Fremantle's undersized defence withstood the Bulldogs' taller forwards to secure a 24-point win, moving the team into the top eight ahead of their upcoming clash with Richmond.

Despite only having two more inside 50's (52-50) the undersized Fremantle defence held firm to restrict the tall timber of the Bulldogs to just 22 scoring shots.

The Bulldogs featured five players over 194cm (Including Marcus Bontempelli and Tim English) who played forward at times, while Fremantle only had two defenders over 190cm after Josh Draper was substituted out early. 

“We had some boys who had to come back and play a role they don’t usually play,” defender Heath Chapman said. 

“We had Jaeger (O’Meara) and 'Banners' (Bailey Banfield) who played a huge role for us.

“Obviously, they (Bulldogs) had some really big boys down there and we just had to play footy where we really helped each other as it was difficult (to deal with the height).”

Chapman was one of the two Club defenders over 190cm for the evening, with it being the 22-year-old's first AFL game since round 3 of 2023 (391 days ago). 

“It’s obviously been a pretty long journey but I’m really grateful to be back out there,” Chapman said following the 24-point win. 

“Hopefully many, many more to come.

Chapman gathered 14 disposals at 93 per cent efficiency and six marks in his return game, before having to go back and play tall to support the defence. 

Fremantle moves into the top eight, improving their record to 4-3 ahead of their round eight clash with Richmond at the MCG next Sunday.

“We are really keen for next week (Richmond). We will review this game and then hop right on to the Tigers and hopefully put out another strong performance,” Chapman said.