 After a patchy 2000, Freeborn hit back over the following two seasons, missing only two matches as his side rose up the ladder and into the finals in 2002, whereupon the club then found their way into their first Grand Final since their famed victory in 1990.In the match in the wet against Brisbane, Freeborn was outstanding off halfback and through the midfield, and again reaffirmed himself as one of the players the club would rely on for a cool head under pressure.Surprisingly, Freeborn found it difficult to crack it for a regular place in the Magpies' 2003 line up, tipped out despite some reasonable early season form by the youth of Richard Cole, Rhyce Shaw and Matthew Lokan.