FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir is confident his team can overcome the perceived disadvantage of starting the season a week later than round one opponent Geelong, with the Dockers backing their body of work over the summer to help them hit the ground running in 2026.
Longmuir has previously called for the AFL's WA teams to be involved in Opening Round given the potential benefits of an early-season bye with their travel load, while chief executive Simon Garlick has highlighted the advantage it gives to teams that start the season early.
Geelong faces Gold Coast on Friday night before taking on the Dockers at GMHBA Stadium on March 14 in what will be Fremantle's first game of the season.
Adelaide, Essendon, Richmond, Melbourne and West Coast will also launch their seasons against teams that have already got a game under their belt during Opening Round.
Longmuir said there were ways for the Dockers to counter any disadvantage the Opening Round fixture created, and the team would launch its season full of confidence.
"I think it's an advantage having played the week before, but I don't think it's an advantage we can't overcome," the coach told AFL.com.au.
"I just coach what's in front of me … (and) we'll go down there full of confidence and put our best foot forward.
"We want to make sure we go into that game with our players nice and fresh. The fitness work is probably already done. Training will be important [this] week, but it won't be the be all and end all."
After years of building endurance, physical resilience, and becoming a team that can outlast opponents deep in games, the Dockers have placed a focus on becoming more powerful this pre-season under new high performance manager Adam Beard.
After identifying a gap with grand finalists Brisbane and Geelong and the power attributes of their players, Beard has used his diverse background in international sport to help the Dockers evolve physically.
"There's definitely been some changes, and Beardy's brought some philosophies in, especially in the gym, around doing less exercises and doing those exercises heavier," Longmuir said.
"It feels like the players have lifted together a lot more and he's driven a great culture in the gym where players are really driving each other to push harder and push heavier.
"Competition is not the right word, but it's built a real drive for players to maximize the gym and challenge themselves in lifting PBs, and we've seen players lift numerous PBs across the pre-season, which has been great.
"He hasn't changed the whole program … so he's handled that part really well and he's built on our running and tried to implement a bit more repeat speed, which is an area where we see the game going."
Fremantle has completed an impressive pre-season campaign, with its key forward strength and midfield depth on show through a match simulation against West Coast and an AAMI Community Series win against Adelaide.
Longmuir said the ability for key players to switch roles would be important this season, as highlighted by Murphy Reid's outstanding midfield game against the Crows and Hayden Young's ability to rotate forward more.
"It gets to a stage with individual players where you go, 'Well, he's become an established player in his role … maybe you can add some benefit in another area of our team too'," Longmuir said.
"We've seen that over the pre-season where Luke Jackson's played more midfield time, Murphy Reid's played a little bit more midfield time, (Shai) Bolton's played a little bit more midfield time.
"Then Caleb (Serong), Andy (Brayshaw) and 'Youngy' have played a bit more time down forward.
"So you find new things to evolve and for individuals to evolve, but also for your team to evolve.
"It's an imperfect game as well, so to sit here and say all of our game is in order, I would be a bit of a liar I think, because there's always things you can improve on, and we're always searching for that improvement and searching for mastery in some sense."