An undermanned Collingwood have pulled off a stunning victory over Fremantle on Thursday night.

The Magpies trailed by 20 points early, but fought back brilliantly before holding off the Dockers late to win by 14 points.

Collingwood entered the match without veteran quartet Scott Pendlebury, Jordan De Goey, Brody Mihocek and Brayden Maynard, and found themselves another man down in the final quarter when Lachie Schultz was concussed and they had already subbed out Steele Sidebottom.

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The Magpies lost the inside-50 count (34-63), the possession count (300-376) and the clearance count (29-44), which pointed towards a Fremantle victory.

But despite all that, the Magpies still managed to come away with the four points.

“It was a statement win. Every stat, don’t worry about it, I can promise you, they have been absolutely dominated,” Channel 7 commentator Nick Riewoldt said.

“Collingwood, they never panicked and they paved their way. Despite all the attrition injury-wise and players not here and that sort of stuff ... system and effort, with talk so much, we focus so much as an industry on the analysis, on the tactics and all of that sort of stuff.

“Sometimes it is about rolling the sleeves up and getting to work and this side does it better and more consistently than any other team in the competition.”

Jamie Elliott was the star of the show with 6.2 from 14 disposals, while Jack Crisp tallied 29 disposals, six clearances, 718m gained and one goal just a week after missing his after-the-siren shot in a three-point loss to Geelong.

The Dockers’ haphazard entries cost them dearly, with Collingwood’s defence able to pick off the ball time and again in a masterclass display of counter-attack football.

It left Fremantle nursing a 4-5 record and needing to answer all sorts of questions about why their talent-laden squad can’t get the job done.

In a further blow, injury-prone ruckman Sean Darcy was subbed out during the third quarter with what appeared to be a calf injury.

Jordan Clark (33 disposals) played a pivotal role in defence for Fremantle, while Andrew Brayshaw (33 disposals, six clearances) was busy in the midfield.

Fremantle enjoyed a dream start to the match.

Josh Treacy, who was held scoreless last week, kicked the first two goals of the contest, and it was 21-1 when Isaiah Dudley joined in on the fun.

The Magpies kicked the final four goals of the quarter to take a five-point lead into quarter time, with Schultz’s desperate pressure without the ball leading to two of those majors.

Fremantle captain Alex Pearce marked the upcoming one-year anniversary of Cam McCarthy’s death by kicking a long-range goal to start the second quarter.

Pearce paid tribute to his good mate by kissing the word Dardy — McCarthy’s nickname — which was written on his tape.

Fremantle led the clearance count 25-16 at half-time, but their wayward entries into attack made it easy for Collingwood’s defenders to intercept.

Collingwood’s ability to get out the back to score goals on the counter continued in the third quarter.

Two goals to Hill helped extend the margin to 21 points, but his set shot miss from 35m kept the door open for Fremantle.

Patrick Voss nailed a set-shot banana a short time later to close the gap to 15 points at the final change, but two clutch set shots from Elliott in the opening minutes of the last quarter gave Collingwood the breathing space they needed.

Elliott ended with three goals for the quarter to see off Fremantle’s late challenge, while Bobby Hill kicked three goals for the match.

- With AAP