FREMANTLE star Michael Walters has rallied from his traumatic week of racism abuse to play a starring role in its badly-needed 10-point win.
Walters kicked a game-high four goals as the Dockers rallied from 23 points down to beat Gold Coast 15.10 (100) to 13.12 (90) in the Friday twilight game at inner-suburban Norwood Oval in Adelaide.
DOCKERS v SUNS Full match coverage and stats
After one of his first-quarter goals, Walters pointed to the skin on his left forearm.
Walters and teammate Nathan Wilson were among several AFL players targeted this week for racial abuse on social media.
Just as Western Bulldogs player Jamarra Ugle-Hagan responded to his racism incident by emulating Nicky Winmar's iconic raised-jumper gesture, plus kicking five goals in their win over Brisbane last month, Walters was mighty for the Dockers.
Coach Justin Longmuir heaped praise on Walters for Friday's performance, as well as his ongoing community influence.
"I'm not just proud of him today - I'm proud of what he and some of the Indigenous leaders have done across our game to bring this sort of stuff to light, highlight it and try to stamp it out," Longmuir said.
"That stuff aside, I just loved the way he played ... with great intensity.
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"I could tell in the warm-up he was up for it with his voice and communication - his contests really set the tone for us early.
"He maximised his opportunities and brought a few along for the ride.
"Maybe he found a bit more motivation in the stuff that happened during the week and he wanted to make a statement - he sure did."
It was a crucial win for the Dockers, who went into the match on the same 1-3 record as the Suns.
The pressure was building on Fremantle after last year's finals appearance and Longmuir said that, after a tough first half, it played much better in a pulsating contest.
"I was really proud of the boys, because 23 points down, away from home, copping what we've been copping, that could easily have gone the other way," he said.
"There are definitely a lot of positives we can take out of it. Time will tell ... it just doesn't keep rolling because you've had a good half of footy."
Fremantle kicked seven of the last nine goals, with Gold Coast left cursing more inaccurate goalkicking.
The Suns have kicked more behinds than goals in their last three games and at half-time on Friday they had double the scoring shots.
"It stings, obviously ... if you don't put (in) a buffer you leave the door open and they came through it, like all good teams do," Suns coach Stuart Dew said.
"We're frustrated, we certainly feel that.
"It's hard to digest a little bit at the moment, just because it felt like our effort was there all night.
"Just fundamentals at crucial times really hurt us."
Suns forward Jack Lukosius was best afield for much of the game, but his 1.4 let him down.
Dockers onballer Caleb Serong starred with a game-high 37 disposals, while ruckman Sean Darcy and fellow big man Luke Jackson were important.
