Fremantle and the Kangaroos have built up a fierce rivalry in recent years. Buggering up each other's seasons has become a bit of a tradition. In 2003, the Dockers put the Roos out of the finals. The next two years, the Roos got pay back with upset wins killing Freo's season. This year the Roos have already taken their best shot by stitching up The Wiz in the pre-season. Now it's Fremantle's turn.

Of course, last year the Kangaroos were never really in the race so Fremantle were robbed of their chance to cause some damage. In fact, the Roos were in so much trouble last year that even when the Dockers took them on in Round 8, they'd already resorted to massive flooding to try and stem the damage to the coach. The result wasn't an exciting game but it was a convincing win for Fremantle 16.6 (84) to 6.13 (49). Matthew Pavlich kicked a lazy 6 and Ryan Murphy kicked 3 for Fremantle while Corey Jones and Leigh Harding managed 2 each for the Roos. Jess Sinclair and the Carr brothers had the most of the footy and the umpires gave their votes to Pavlich, Hasleby and Brent Harvey.

In 2005 things weren't quite so rosy. It wasn't an enjoyable afternoon for Fremantle supporters at Subiaco Oval at all (well actually it was for most of the day, it was just the last bit that sucked). Freo were brilliant in the opening quarter, kicking goals at will and delighting the crowd but they slowed down in the second quarter, had a brief return to form in the third quarter and then shut up shop for the last quarter. Daniel Wells went to town, kicked a miracle goal and took his team to a 17 point victory. Sav Rocca kicked 6 controversial goals on a young Scott Thornton, Shannon Motlop kicked 4. Des Headland topped the Freo scoring with 2 goals. The top ball getters were Byron Schammer and Peter Bell with 30 possessions each, Shannon Grant had 26 for the Kangaroos.

It was Round 19, 2003 that was the talking point though. Over at the MCG, the Dockers weren't given much chance of beating the Kangaroos. The Roos lead for most of the game but Matthew Pavlich ran amok in the last quarter and a Connolly foretold, Longmuir brother inspired comeback leveled the scores late in the final quarter. Des Headland marked inside fifty with seconds left on the clock, wobbled a point through and won the game for Fremantle. Troy Longmuir kicked 3 goals as did Motlop for the Roos. Brent Harvey caught the eye of the umpires with 33 touches and was given the 3 Brownlow votes. Matthew Pavlich's rampage in the last quarter earned him the two votes and Adam Simpson got the one. Top votes in The Clinton Wolf went to Robbie Haddrill, Pav got the two and Peter Bell picked up the 1 for his 25 disposals and tackle happy attitude.

They were rare wins for the Dockers over the Kangaroos though. Being the team of the nineties, the Kangaroos have handed out some absolute shellackings since Fremantle joined the competition. 71 points in 1995, 104 in 1998, 88 in 2000 and 81 in 2001. From 14 matches against the Kangaroos, the Dockers have only had 4 wins. The Kangaroos won the first 3 games, then a streak of 5 after the Willsy Aeroplane win at the WACA in 1998. Things have leveled out in the modern era though and since 2002 it's three wins each, including two 1 point wins each.

After a 5 game winning streak in the middle of the season, the Kangaroos have climbed their way up to 5th spot on the ladder. Last week they beat bottom placed Richmond by 26 points after a horror few weeks which saw them thrashed by the Eagles and Adelaide and narrowly escape being the first team to lose to Melbourne. Brent Harvey had the most of the ball against the Tigers and Drew Petrie managed a career high 6 goals.

Fremantle got caught out in the Sydney weather on the weekend, narrowly losing to the Swans in a tightly fought contest. Pavlich, McManus and Farmer all kicked a couple of goals each and Dean Solomon topped the ball getters with 21 touches. They are currently two games out of 6th spot.