COLLINGWOOD remains a genuine top-four contender after winning its fifth straight game on Saturday by thrashing Fremantle by 84 points at the MCG.

The Magpies won 26.13 (169) to 13.7 (85), after a huge 10-goal final term turned a solid victory into a landslide one.

They are now undefeated since round eight and are well in the race for a top-four finish behind ladder leaders St Kilda, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, Fremantle's season has ventured in the opposite direction. Mark Harvey's men have not won since round seven, are 15th on the ladder, and haven't won in Melbourne since round four, 2007.

They will also be concerned about a calf injury to Matthew Pavlich, which was sustained in the first quarter and ruled the skipper out for the rest of the game.

It was Collingwood's pressure and midfield drive that saw it win the game, despite Fremantle convincingly claiming the ruck battle with 50 hit-outs to 17.

Dane Swan played another terrific game, winning the ball 41 times, Alan Didak had a career-best 39 touches, and Harry O'Brien rebounded superbly and was creative in defence.

Paul Medhurst was a late inclusion for the ill Leon Davis but didn't have a big impact in his first game since round six with 17 touches and two late goals.

For Fremantle, Aaron Sandilands tried to give his teammates first use with 44 hit-outs and 25 possessions, while Paul Hasleby was instrumental in the second-quarter revival and ended with 33 touches.

Debuting pair Hayden Ballantyne and Zac Clarke had afternoons to forget, touching the ball 11 times between them.

The Magpies got off to a flying start, with three goals on the board at the seven-minute mark with the visitors yet to score.

Fremantle got a forward opportunity a minute later but could manage a behind. The Pies took advantage and rebounded the ball smartly for a goal to Travis Cloke.

Dayne Beams snared his first through a free kick soon after and the margin was 30 points. However, Pavlich responded with his side's first after receiving a handpass from Sandilands.

Collingwood regained the ascendancy to kick another through Jack Anthony, but Fremantle got one back before the first break.

The difference at the first change was 25 points after turnovers and skill errors haunted the visitors.

Fremantle's afternoon picked up briefly in the second after it answered an early goal to Leigh Brown with a pair of majors that moved it within 19 points.

Hasleby got busy and Sandilands stepped up his work rate around the ground, but the loss of Pavlich hurt the side dearly.

Fremantle won the quarter with 5.1 to 4.3 after kicking two late goals through Sandilands and Andrew Foster, but still trailed by 21 points at the main break.

The third term resembled a tennis match as the ball ricocheted from end to end and each side took turns adding goals. Play was halted at the eight-minute mark when Dodd was knocked out accidentally in a collision with Dean Solomon, but he recovered for the final term.

The Magpies kicked three of the last four goals of the quarter, which left them with a 34-point lead with a term left.

In the final stanza, Fremantle's injuries caught up with it. With Pavlich off, Dodd back on but restricted and Antoni Grover playing sore, the Pies ran away with the contest.

Brett Peake kicked the first of the term but the Magpies stormed home with 10 of the next 11, to the rapture of the largely Collingwood crowd of 44,114.

Collingwood will now play Essendon on Friday night at the MCG, while Fremantle will host Carlton at Subiaco on Sunday.

Collingwood        6.3 10.6 16.9 26.13 (169)
Fremantle        2.2 7.3 11.5 13.7 (85)   

GOALS
Collingwood: Anthony 4, Cloke 3, ***Filtered*** 3, L. Brown 2, Didak 2, Lockyer 2, Beams 2, Medhurst 2, Dawes 2, O'Brien, Swan, Wellingham, Cox
Fremantle: Headland 3, Foster 2, Peake 2, Pavlich, Dodd, Schammer, Thornton, Sandilands, Hasleby

BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Didak, Cloke, O'Brien, Maxwell, ***Filtered***, O'Bree, Beams, Lockyer
Fremantle: Hasleby, Sandilands, Foster, Duffield, Ibbotson, Broughton

INJURIES
Collingwood: Davis (illness) out, replaced in selected side by Medhurst
Fremantle: Pearce (hamstring) out, replaced in selected side by Headland, Pavlich (calf), Dodd (concussion), Grover (corked leg)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Vozzo, Ryan, Schmitt

Official crowd: 44,114 at the MCG