The footy season is back this weekend and Fremantle will start things off in Perth once again because (try not to laugh) the Eagles like to have a home match before the finals. The visiting side this week will be the Western Bulldogs but being forced to make a mockery of their name so early in the season by travelling to Western Australia has confused and angered Bulldogs coach, Rodney Eade. While Rodney Eade's tears have been welcome relief for the Victorians affected by drought, it will be just the 6th time in 15 seasons that the Bulldogs have had to leave home to play the Dockers so expect to see some more tears when he gets laughed out of WA.

With a lack of reciprocated travel, Fremantle and the Bulldogs have only played each other 17 times. Thanks to a mix of some early, mud covered Western and Optus Oval death marches, the Bulldogs have the edge of Fremantle head to head, with the Doggies winning 10 of the 17 matches.

Their best effort, however, was at Subiaco Oval in 2000 when they gave the Dockers a 93 point touch up, Paul "Hotlips" Hudson booted 6 goals and Scott West had more than double the possessions of the nearest Fremantle player (a youngster by the name of Brad Dodd). Fremantle extracted their revenge a few years later though, travelling to Melbourne and kicking 23 goals to beat the Doggies by 83 points.

Last year there were no such blow outs. Fremantle were lucky enough to be graced with the Western Bulldogs' presence in the actual west. The Bulldogs arrived in Perth undefeated and left in similar circumstances but not without getting a nasty scare from a Dockers side who's season was already wrapping up, despite it only being Round 8. Ironically in a game where Kepler Bradley made his debut, it was neck and neck all day. Fremantle battled hard against an undefeated Bulldogs and a group of umpires with an obvious inferiority complex, matching the Bulldogs for run and dominating in the air. By three quarter time, an exhausted Fremantle had put themselves in front in what had become a last man standing affair. Unfortunately, more of their men were standing in the last quarter, pegging the gap and eventually falling over the line by 3 points. An aging Peter Bell and a young Rhys Palmer topped the ball work for Fremantle with 29 and 27 touches respectively. At the Doggies it was down to Daniel Cross and Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney. Cooney didn't impress the umpires on this particular day, though. Peter Bell, Brett Peake and Mitch Hahn got the 3-2-1. On the scoring side of things, Pavlich and Tarrant booted 4 goals while Jason Akermanis jagged 3 from various pockets.

The Bulldogs have a bit of a streak going against Fremantle, winning the last three matches. Their previous win came in round 12 2007, just before the midseason break. The Bulldogs had whored themselves out to the Northern Territory so Fremantle had to join in on the jaunt. All seemed to be going well for Freo. They kicked 7 goals in the opening quarter and got out to a handy lead. It was a tough pace to stick at though and, with Matthew Carr unconscious on the sidelines, Freo were rolled in the last quarter to the tune of 26 points 22.9 (141) to 16.19 (115). Peter Bell had 34 touches, Scott West obviously had a lot for the Bulldogs. Brad Johnson kicked 5 and Pavlich put through 3.3

It's become a bit of a tactic for the Bulldogs to take Fremantle to far off locations with substandard surfaces and conditions not suited for football. The trip before that had more of a south east direction to it though, the Tesltra Dome.

The Bulldogs fancied their form at the Dome, having won most of their games there and kicking big scores in the process. The Dockers fancied themselves too but fell short in the last quarter when their goal kicking skills abandoned them. Matthew Pavlich had no problems with his 3 goals but Paul Medhurst's 1.5 won't crack a mention when he's showing the Anzac Day Medal to his big haired grand children. Brad Johsnon kicked 3 of the Bulldogs 15 goals. The top ball getter on the day was Scott West who got rid of the footy 29 times, Josh Carr did it 26 times for Fremantle. The umpires liked the work of Scott West, Adam Cooney and Josh Carr while the Clinton Wolf Medal voting committee went for Mundy, Grover and Medhurst on sympathy.

But before the goal kicking shambles and fitness worried of those three games, it had been all Fremantle. A winning streak stretching back to 2003, where it started with the 83 point shellacking at the Telstra Dome.

The win was a long time coming for the Dockers, not having won away from home in over a year and not having two wins in a row since the turn of the Millennium. Freo started quietly but kicking 7 goals in both the second and third quarters made up for it. Paul Medhurst & Justin Longmuir top scored with 4 goals. Shaun McManus was on fire, picking up 23 possessions, 3 Brownlow votes and 3 Clinton Wolf Medal votes. Brain Harris kicked 3 goals from 4 kicks for the Bulldogs and Daniel Giansiracusa picked up 29 touches.

The previous time the Bulldogs came to town, was in 2005. They didn't enjoy themselves. In another flogging, Fremantle beat the Bulldogs by 53 points, powering over the top of them with 8 last quarter goals. The small running nature of the Doggies didn't suit Subiaco Oval and the big men reigned. Luke McPharlin kicked 5 goals and Matthew Pavlich a lazy 4. Daniel Bandy kicked 3 for the Bulldogs. As expected, Scott West had a lot of the ball with 38 touches with Heath Black topping the stats for Fremantle on 30. Troy Cook, Des Headland and Scott West picked up the Brownlow votes.

Last year the Bulldogs finished in 3rd spot on the ladder. They were knocked out of the pre-season competition in Round 2, by Essendon.

Fremantle faired less well last year.