Fremantle star Caleb Serong lavished more praise on Luke Jackson in the wake of their comeback victory over Port Adelaide, saying his side’s third-quarter blitz had been inspired by their superstar ruckman.

Jackson was well beaten by Jordon Sweet in the first half as the Dockers shockingly headed into the main break at Adelaide Oval adrift by 12 points, despite the Power’s lengthy list of absentees including stars Zak Butters, Jason Horne-Francis and Mitch Georgiades.

But Jackson, who is pressing his claims for a first All Australian guernsey, responded in the second half. He kicked his side’s opening goal of the first half to spark a six-goal to one third term and was crucial in their midfield steadying after an early 16-7 clearance deficit.

After his side’s 28-point win, Serong told Fox Footy the biggest member of Fremantle’s on-ball unit deserved plenty of credit for their turnaround in fortunes.

“I thought, the start of that third quarter, Luke Jackson really got us going in there,” he said.

“The big fella said at half-time ‘I’ve got this, get ready for it’. He really got going in that third quarter and gave us a lot of energy — that’s what we love. He got the game going our way.”

While clearance differential has been an issue for the Dockers in recent weeks, Serong said the competition had plenty of good midfields which would provide challenges for his side.

“We knew they were going to bring a lot of pressure and a lot of numbers at the footy, and we didn’t deal with it as well as we would’ve liked,” he said.

“You talk about them (stoppages) and then getting them back on your terms is another thing.”

After they remarkably made their 150th AFL appearances in the same game, both Brennan Cox and Mason Cox paid tribute to their families.

“We’re all spread out around Australia, but they flew in for the game, which is nice,” Brennan Cox said.

“It’s been a chaotic 48 hours for them, but I’ve got the most amazing parents who have been so supportive throughout my journey. It’s been amazing,” Mason Cox added.

Key forward Jye Amiss, who slotted four goals, said his side’s performance had led to “a good win in the end”.

“We thought, the way that we started, it probably wasn’t on our terms, and we had some things we really needed to get sorted,” Amiss said.

“I think, after half-time, we were able to play our brand of footy.”

Amiss regularly outpointed his opponent Brandon Zerk-Thatcher in one-on-one contests and the key forward said he was delighted to see several years of focus put on his contest work beginning to show in games.

“I’m really starting to love the combat, that’s something I’m building into my game,” Amiss said.