Fremantle’s ruthless display against North Melbourne — turning a big lead into a genuine thumping — proves they have gone to the next level, according to experts.

The unstoppable Dockers created another piece of history in Bunbury on Saturday, dismantling and embarrassing North Melbourne by 124 points, the largest victory in the club’s history.

Three-time Geelong premiership player Cameron Ling said the unrelenting performance is something the Dockers haven’t shown in the past.

“When you get a team that, for whatever reason, isn’t as good as you, a little bit off or maybe I don’t know what’s gone on with their preparation coming into the game, but they certainly probably don’t want to be selling games to Bunbury anymore, you go whack,” he told ABC radio.

“You just take them apart, and that’s what Freo did from start to finish. They dominated the inside 50s, dominated clearances, dominated the contested possessions, took marks inside 50 for the fun of it, and then just piled on the score and did not let North Melbourne score.

“That is the sign of an outstanding football team just to be so ruthless. I love that as a sign for a team that wants to win a premiership.”

The knock on the Dockers has been their inability to truly belt teams with their previous biggest win this year, 60 points over Richmond, while five of their wins have been under 15 points.

After the game, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir revealed it was a halftime directive to put North Melbourne to the sword in a much-needed percentage boost that saw them rise from 135.2 to 147.9, which keeps them in touch with the Swans’, who sit second, percentage.

“It was pleasing. At half time, I spoke about being in this situation before, and probably talked in language that takes us away from the process, and almost tried too hard. But I just thought we stuck to the plan today. We were ruthless with the way we played,” he said.

Former Adelaide star Rory Sloane has even declared he doesn’t know how teams can stop the Dockers, declaring them his runaway favourites for the premiership as they enter their bye.

“I look at Freo and go ‘you can’t stop them’,” he said on The Sunday Footy Show.

“If I watch Sydney, I go ‘I know how to beat them’, like you cover the corridor and you press.

“Defensively, Freo are outstanding, their forwards get up, and they want to join in on team defence. They’re on high alert at all times, they’re moving, they’re proactive, they want to defend really well.

“At contests, they’re absolutely sound. Transitioning the ball, they are as good as any other team, and they can go through multiple avenues. They can use kick-mark, play tempo, run, and carry, but they all hold their lanes.

“They play a system, and they know they’re going to get rewarded. They don’t all need stats, but they play a proper system.

“And they were ruthless the whole game. They’re playing for each other, their contest is good, team-lifting efforts are there throughout the game, and they were so ruthless across four quarters.

“I was so impressed, and I don’t know how you beat them or what weakness they have.”