A fired-up Fremantle has shrugged off a nightmarish week to win its first match of the season in a 21-point victory over Sydney at Subiaco.

After enduring a Ku Klux Klan controversy and Matthew Pavlich trade talk, not to mention owning up to a dismal loss to St Kilda last weekend, Fremantle played with intensity and skill, beating the Swans 18.13 (121) to 16.4 (100) in an emphatic ANZAC Day performance.

The scoreline probably flattered Sydney as the Dockers led by as much as 42-points at half-time and never looked seriously threatened until some goals in junk time during the last quarter lent the Swans' score some respectability.

Matthew Pavlich put a lean first month of 2009 behind him, scoring three goals and earning 27 disposals, the captain ably supported by three-goal games from the impressive David Mundy and Luke McPharlin.

However, Fremantle's win may have come at a cost, last season's NAB Rising Star winner Rhys Palmer appearing to injure his knee during the final quarter.

Brett Kirk was exceptional for Sydney in his 200th game, picking up 27 touches and 12 tackles, the co-captain firing his side after half-time, while Jude Bolton impressed with 28 disposals as Adam Goodes scored three goals.

Sydney also had 11 separate goal kickers on Saturday night, but their forward line lacked targets in the absence of Barry Hall and Michael O'Loughlin.

The Dockers showed their attacking intent from the initial bounce, scoring three goals in the first six minutes as they looked to atone for last week's dismal effort against the Saints.

The sense of occasion seemed to galvanise Fremantle, Michael Johnson slotting a cool set shot in the second minute before Pavlich drilled the second and Byron Schammer snapped truly.

So intense was the Dockers' pressure that Sydney only managed the one possession in the first five minutes as Fremantle tackled with intent, won the hard ball and moved forward with the type of crisp efficiency that hadn't been seen so far this season.

Sydney gradually worked their way into the contest, pulling goals back through Goodes and Amon Buchanan but another three to Fremantle saw the hosts establish a 26-point break by quarter-time.

It only got worse for Sydney in the second quarter as the Dockers continued to run riot, harassing the Swans into mistake after mistake as they scored another five goals to three to take a seven-goal lead into the main break.

So intense was Fremantle in the clinches that