Collingwood's worst MCG crowd in 76 years saw the Magpies snap their three-game AFL losing streak at Fremantle's expense.
Only 20,320 fans braved the worst of Melbourne weather on Friday night as Collingwood dominated the Dockers from the start and won 12.13 (85) to 5.7 (37).
The Dockers were a shadow of the team that had won their previous three matches.
By the last quarter, as the rain fell, the temperature was just six degrees and the apparent temperature was at three.
The weather, combined with Collingwood's poor form leading into this game and the closure of the MCG car parks because of the extended wet spell, all contributed to the low crowd.
The last time Collingwood had a 20,000 crowd at the MCG was 1940, in the midst of Word War Two.
Defender Ben Reid was solid all night for Collingwood, while at the other end Dockers counterpart Sam Collins impressed in his fifth match.
Fremantle only kicked 1.4 to half time - their equal-lowest score in the first half since Ross Lyon took over as coach.
They rallied with two goals to nil in the third term and when captain Matthew Pavlich kicked his second goal at the start of the last quarter, the margin was only 22 points.
But Collingwood went on a five-goal tear to put the result beyond doubt.
Magpies key forward Travis Cloke kicked two goals on his recall and took seven marks.
Dockers forward Jack Hannath had a terrible night, with two glaring errors in the third term.
One of the highlights of a cold, miserable night was injured Collingwood star Dane Swan taking over the club's twitter account for the match.
The irreverent Brownlow Medallist offered a unique perspective on the game, with his comment after second-gamer Tom Phillips kicked his first goal in the AFL.
"Nice by that young kid to kick his first goal.. I'll have to meet him Monday," Swan tweeted.
After his week from hell, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire started his scheduled holiday early and was not at the MCG to see his team's first win in four matches.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was scathing of their performance, saying they had set themselves for much better.
"It's obviously a step back - really disappointed, Friday night footy, MCG, we'd spoken about that," he said.
"I'm flabbergasted, in some respects, what we dished up in the first half.
"They were a club under siege, obviously, with Eddie being put through the ringer, and they seemed to be galvanised ... and responded in a manner we'd like to see ourselves (show)."
He said their midfield was obliterated and, when they gained possession, too often their decision-making was also poor.
"From our end, everything went wrong, but Collingwood made that happen," Lyon said.
Lyon also was unimpressed with his team's workrate in the dismal conditions.
"We looked at the guys at halftime and they looked pristine, so we just set it up ... to compete," he said.
Lyon added that they were better in the third term and became a flukish chance, only for the true form of the game to come in the last.
Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said they showed much better attention to detail and were rewarded for a strong effort.
"It's obviously one of those nights where getting your body in line with the ball and doing it again and again and again was going to be important," he said.
"We brought the right intent and, for the most part, got the game on our terms."
He added Cloke played his role and took a step in the right direction with an encouraging performance.
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