Fremantle step into the unknown this week. They've never been this far into September, they've never been to Stadium Australia and they've never gone so long without a NewsPoll trying to get the coached sacked. It'll be a new situation for the Swans this week too. Their only finals win at the stadium was back in 2004 when they played the Eagles - so this year their opposition will manage more than 4 goals.

It'll be a big moment for Fremantle when they stride onto Tesltra Stadium. Not only will they be entering the biggest game they've ever played in, in front of the biggest crowd they ever seen, they'll be running onto the scene of Australia's greatest sporting moment – Jumpin’ Jai Taurima's silver medal long jump performance at the Sydney Olympics. Many would have you believe that it's even more intimidating because of Sydney's tremendous record at the ground. Those are the sort of idiots who Germaine Greer has to keep bringing into line with her hard hitting columns in The Guardian.

Have a look at Sydney's hit list in their 12 wins. Geelong, Essendon, Carlton, the Eagles in a final, Brisbane post 2004, Richmond. It's a who's who of poor to average. They know the local supporters aren't going to show up by the tens of thousands for a home and away match if there's a chance they could lose - it's rigged. The worry for the Swans is that, even though they've been rigging it, they've still managed to lose 5 games there. Of course, now that they've tasted a bit of Premiership success they've got so many people on the bandwagon that they don't need to rig the games, so Fremantle will be the first team going into the match without having to be a bunch of complete hacks.

The other point Germaine needs to make is, at this point in their history, Fremantle would be better off playing anywhere other than the SCG. Back in the day, Fremantle couldn't boast many records in the AFL but they could always hang their hat on the fact that they'd never lost a game to the Sydney Swans at the SCG. It wasn't much but it's always nice to know there's someone out there who sucks more than you.

Then, Damien Drum took over at Fremantle (although many will claim it's because he left Sydney) and the Dockers never won another game there. It's been 7 losses in row there now. They've played the Swans in Sydney in every year of the twenty first century and are yet to bring home the 4 points. The closest the Dockers have come was in 2003 when Freo lead by 8 points at three quarter time and would have been finals bound had they managed to win. Sydney kicked 6 goals in the last quarter and Fremantle had to do it all again the next week. Trent Croad and Paul Medhurst kicked 3 goals each as did Barry Hall and Brett Kirk. Daryn Cresswell had 25 touches and Matthew Pavlich 17. Cresswell, Goodes and Kirk picked up the Brownlow votes. Leo Barry took 3 marks.

Not exactly somewhere where the Dockers would be keen to head back to.

The last time Fremantle went to the SCG was in Round 13 this year. After another rough midseason break, the Dockers headed east with a big task in front of them. A hard fought, tough, in tight match early saw the Dockers with their noses in front as they played the Swans at their own game and won, but with one half fit ruckman at their disposal, Fremantle found it too big an ask to run out the full 4 quarters and the Swans ran away with the game in the last quarter. Michael O'Loughlin had the most of the ball in a low possession game with 19 touches. Roger Hayden topped the ball getters for Fremantle with 16.Matty Pavlich and Nick Davis kicked 4 goals each. Clinton Wolf liked the look of Troy Cook, Pavlich and Shane Parker. Leo Barry took 6 marks.

That win broke Fremantle's dominance of the Swans. Freo were clinging on at 8 wins each at the start of the year but the loss at the SCG gave the Swans their 9th win over Fremantle. It was round 12 last year that the Swans levelled the ledger. The Dockers were struggling to field a side and were forced into the game with the likes of Dylan Smith, Daniel Gilmore, Jarrad Schofield, Luke Webster and Ryan Murphy. Despite letting the Swans get out to an early break, Freo had their chances to take the lead in but some poor kicking let them down. It was the story of the day, with Freo able to match the Swans everywhere but the scoreboard. A burst of Sydney goals in the third term had Freo on the ropes and with half the team on the sidelines, there just weren't any punches left to fight their way back. Barry Hall and Michael O'Loughlin kicked 4 goals each. Jeff Farmer was Fremantle's only multiple goal scorer with two. Paul Williams had the ball 25 times for the Swans and Troy Cook 21 for Fremantle. Amon Buchanan, Tadhg Kennelly and Paul Willaims picked up the 3-2-1 in the Brownlow medal and Troy Cook, Justin Longmuir and David Mundy scored a mention in the Clinton Wolf Medal. Leo Barry took 8 marks.

The last time the Dockers won in Sydney was under Gerard Neesham in 1996 - back when Leo Barry was just a young kid from New South Wales. Tony Lockett and Daniel Bandy were doing the goal scoring that day while Paul Kelly and Gavin Mitchell were getting their hands on the footy the most.

You don't have to go back that far for Fremantle's last win over Sydney though. Back at Subiaco Oval in Round 17 2004 the Dockers brought out the champagne footy and used their match against the Swans as a football clinic to show all the young kiddies at the ground how to play the game. Precision skills, ferocious tackling, a bit of magic and just a touch of lairising proved to be a lethal combination as Freo ran rings around the Swans for a 27 point win. Jeff Farmer put his critics back in their boxes with a 5 goal haul, Jlo helped with 4 goal haul and Barry Hall kicked 3. Captain Kirk had 28 disposals, Peter Bell 27 and the Brownlow votes went to Dessy Headland, Brett Kirk and Jeff Farmer. Leo Barry took 3 marks.

Last time Fremantle played the Swans, the Dockers were coming off a week's break and Sydney had just played a game at Telstra Stadium and lost to Collingwood. This year the tables are turned and the Swans have had the week off after the Eagles laid down to them once again. After sneaking into 4th spot on the ladder thanks to percentage, the Swans headed to Perth in the first week of the finals. They struggled to get away from the team Fremantle had beaten by 10 goals a few weeks earlier and fell over the line by a point. Barry Hall kicked 5 goals, Michael O'Loughlin 4 and that Irish bloke had 22 touches. They've won 7 of their last 11 matches.

15 wins for the season saw the Dockers finish outright 3rd at the end of the home and away season. After coming up against near impossible conditions in Adelaide in the first week of the finals, the Dockers lead for most of the day but missed out at the final siren. Last week they regrouped and blew Melbourne's season out of the water. Heath Black had 28 touches and 4 blokes, Pavlich, Farmer, Murphy and Matthew Carr, kicked a couple of goals each. They've won 10 of their last 11 games.