Everyone rates Fremantle, but Matthew Pavlich’s response can be summed up as – so what?

His rival AFL captains universally expect the Dockers to make the finals and have tipped them as one of only three likely grand final opponents, along with Hawthorn and Sydney.

It’s a reflection of how strong Fremantle have become in their two seasons under Ross Lyon.

“It sounds nice, but it counts for nothing – so it doesn’t bother us one bit,” was Pavlich’s response.

“It guarantees us nothing, just because we were there last year.

“It would be nice if reputations and past performances counted, but as Ross says, they don’t.”

Pavlich said after dealing with the grand final loss to Hawthorn, the Dockers had come back with the right intent.

“It obviously took us a while, individually and collectively, to get over last year and we did that in the break,” he said.

“But everyone returned in really good shape and with a really strong attitude.

“We’ve seen the majority of guys get through training and the first few games without any hiccups.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity.”

One pre-season setback has been Scott Gumbleton’s hamstring injury.

He is out for 10-12 weeks, continuing his horror run of AFL injuries.

“He’s bitterly disappointed, shattered,” Pavlich said of their new key forward.

“But Scotty is a really resilient guy and he’s fitted into the club extremely well.

“We’re expecting him to rebound strongly.”

Pavlich said the Dockers were trying to complement their strong defensive play with more scoring opportunities.

“Just because we’ve focussed on one or two things in our offence doesn’t mean it’s going to happen – we’re going to have to bring it to life again,” he said.