Fremantle versus Essendon at Subiaco Oval on Friday night, September 2003. It was going to be the greatest moment in the history of Fremantle (and parts of Cockburn too) but it didn't quite pan out with James Hird doing things with the football that controlled experiments at the CSIRO are still unable to replicate and the Bomber becoming the boogie man for Fremantle ever since.

But, with so many teams having a good record against Fremantle in the past, it was easy to miss the fact that Fremantle have never gone particularly well against the Bombers. Just 5 times from 18 attempts Fremantle have brought home the Albert Thurgood trophy (technically they've only taken it home once because, as the rumours go, the replica canon trophy was lost in an incident involving 6664 Madigan, international waters and a monkey knife fight that went wrong). Even in the modern era, Fremantle have only beaten Essendon 3 out of 8 tries.

Last time around though, Fremantle didn't just beat Essendon, they used them as the step ladder that almost saw the name Fremantle engraved on a Premiership Cup. After a midseason slump that saw Freo looking lethargic and close to breaking point, Essendon proved to be a nice soft target to run themselves back into form. High marks, long runs down the wing, massive kicks sailing through for goals - the game had everything, even hay maker thrown at Matty Carr. Fremantle kicked 7 goals in the opening quarter and pushed on for 19 for the match, winning 19.11 (125) to 12.16 (88) . Matthew Pavlich, Ryan Murphy and Ryan Crowley all kicked 4 goals. Courtney Johns kicked 3 for the Bombers. Fremantle shared the ball around a fair bit but Paul Hasleby had the most of it with 27 touches. Scott Camporeale equaled Hasleby's effort for the Dons. The umpires and the Clinton Wolf Medal voting committee were in agreement that Shaun McManus was best on ground but were split with the minor votes. Matthew Pavlich and Justin Longmuir picked up the Brownlow votes while Paul Hasleby and Ryan Murphy picked up Clinton Wolf Medal votes.

Unfortunately for Freo, that was their only win from the last 5 matches between the two sides. The games prior were both played at Telstra Dome with similar outcomes. In 2005 they went down by 35 points. It was one of those days where the umpires brought one whistle between the three of them, and they gave it to the idiot but it was Fremantle's inability to cope with the Essendon pressure that cost them the points. A slow starting Dockers clawed their way back into the game in the third quarter to lead at the last break but, with too few contributors, fell apart in the last quarter. Upstart, Andrew Lovett, kicked 5 goals for the Bombers with Jeff Farmer kicking 3 up the other end. Matthew Pavlich kicked 2.2 and had 24 touches, Pevrill got rid of the footy 23 times for Essendon. Lovett picked up the 3 votes, Pavlich the 2 and Scott Lucas was thrown the 1.

In 2004, Fremantle sort their revenge for their 2003 finals defeat, under the bright lights of the Telstra Dome in a Friday night blockbuster - Essendon v Fremantle playing in the newly dubbed Pressure Cooker. They had a magical camera that was going to float through the sky and bring a new dimension the game and Essendon were pioneering the science of inflatable clapping devices. It was supposed to be one of the best games of the season but the Pressure Cooker quickly turned Fremantle into steamed celery and the game was all but over by half time. The Dockers struggled to get the ball past the half back line and by midway through the second quarter were 10 goals down. They fought it out in the second half to get within 3 goals of the Bombers but couldn't finish it off, losing by 30 points. Lloyd kicked 5 goals, Nathan Lovett-Murray kicked 3. Fremantle's best effort came from a bloke by the name of Clive Waterhouse who kicked 2.1. Pavlich and Hasleby had the most touches for Fremantle with 26 disposals each. Jason Johnson had 28 touches for the Bombers. Welsh, McPhee and Pavlich picked up the 3-2-1- in the Brownlow voting.

The common factor in those two games was that it was played on the roof of a carpark the locals like to call Telstra Dome. It's a ground Fremantle have never been able to beat Essendon at and one they've struggled to beat anyone else at either. Fremantle have played 21 games at the Dome for just the 7 wins. Last year they played two games at the Dome, beating Carlton by 18 points in Round 17 and losing to the Bulldogs by 14 points in Round 11.

Essendon's Dome form hasn't been anything to write home about lately either, with just 3 wins for the entire season, they suffered 8 losses there last year.

Last week, Essendon picked off the weakest member of the herd, beating a sorry Adelaide by 31 points. Scott Lucas had his annual berserk match, kicking 7 goals and 4 behinds from 19 possessions. Matthew Lloyd had to take a back seat with just 2 goals. Dustin Fletcher had 26 possessions as he took advantage of the lack of forwards at Adelaide’s disposal and picked off kicks from the Crows midfielders. Last year, Essendon won their first round match by 27 points only to lose the next 14 matches.

Fremantle started the season in great style last week but tapered off very quickly, letting a 5 goal lead slip to lose to Port Adelaide by 16 points. Matthew Pavlich kicked 5 goals and Shaun McManus had 28 possessions. Last year Fremantle lost their opening round match by 22 points and won the next match by 15 points.