FREMANTLE is on a high heading into its mid-season bye.

The Dockers are riding a club-record 12-game winning streak, just broke the club record for biggest win by thrashing North Melbourne by 124 points and are 14 points clear of third-placed Hawthorn, three-and-a-half wins inside the top two.

They are 12-1 after a dominant start to 2026 and are clear favourites to claim the club's first ever premiership.

But what does history say about teams which have been 12-1 or better?

Fremantle needs no reminder about enjoying such a strong first half of the year, having been in a similar position in 2015, when it fell at the preliminary final hurdle.

The Dockers are the 31st side in VFL/AFL history to be 12-1 or better, and history makes for interesting reading.

The good news? Of the previous 30, a remarkable 26 have made the Grand Final, with Carlton in 1930 and 1975, Collingwood in 1973 and those 2015 Dockers the only exceptions.

While the vast majority have reached the Grand Final, winning the flag has been a different story.

Only 13 of the previous 30 have won the premiership, with the past two 12-1 teams – the Dockers in 2015 and Sydney in 2024 – falling short.

The last team to be 12-1 or better and win the flag was Hawthorn in 2013, while Geelong did it in 2009 and 2011, but those two years had another team with a similar record.

In 2009, the Saints – like Geelong – were famously 13-0 at this point of the season before losing the Grand Final to the Cats in a nailbiter, while Collingwood was also 12-1 in 2011 before it also lost the decider to the Cats.

With the likes of star duo Caleb Serong and Hayden Young having already missed games this season, there may yet be improvement in the high-flying Dockers in the run to September.

"We can get better in personnel, but there's still improvement (in the group). We're not our best version yet," coach Justin Longmuir said after the thrashing of the Kangaroos.

"The challenge for us as a playing group is to remain hungry and keep searching for areas we can improve, because everyone below us on the ladder is doing exactly that.

"I don't sit here and think we're our best version yet.

"Through personnel and the way we're playing, we've got areas of our game that we can get better at, and that's what we've got to strive to do."