Team: FREMANTLE

Ins: Anthony Morabito (Peel Thunder), Nathan Fyfe (Claremont), Joel Haughton (Perth), Jesse Crichton (North Hobart), Dylan Roberton (Fremantle), Justin Bollenhagen (South Adelaide), Greg Broughton (promoted rookie), Adam McPhee (Essendon). Rookies - Michael Barlow (Werribee), Alex Silvagni (Casey Scorpions)

Outs: Andrew Browne (retired), Adam Campbell (delisted), Daniel Gilmore (delisted), Josh Head (delisted), Brent Connell (delisted), Luke Pratt (delisted), Andrew Foster (delisted), Brent Peake (St Kilda), Marcus Drum (Geelong)

Draw: Just like the team itself, the draw is a Jekyll and Hyde scenario for Fremantle in 2010. More importantly it does no favours for coach Mark Harvey, who is in the third and final year of his contract, as the team plays six 2009 top eight sides within the first eight rounds and nine within the first 13. Indeed, it almost couldn't get much harder for Freo as its first four opponents are Adelaide (Subiaco), Essendon (Etihad), Geelong (Subiaco) and St Kilda (Etihad), with the club conceivably being 0-4 after the first month and Harvey's chances of a new contract all but blown. But if Fremantle can negotiate this start and overcome its fear of playing at Etihad Stadium, which hosts the club six times in 2010, then the rebuilding Dockers may have a platform for a solid finish to the year. This is because Fremantle has five of its last nine games at Subiaco, with only two of these nine against top eight sides during this run to September. The Dockers have also been gifted Round 1 and 22 clashes at Subiaco, while being given a blockbuster Friday night clash with Collingwood on May 14. But for a team that travels so much, longer trips to the Gabba to face Brisbane and Launceston to play the Hawks certainly won't be welcome.

Strengths: It's a given that Fremantle will dominate the ruck when Aaron Sandilands is up and running, so instead of looking at that strength, it seems more worthwhile concentrating on the club's under-rated forward line. Despite skipper Matthew Pavlich playing more as a midfielder last season, the forward line clicked nicely once youngsters Chris Mayne and Hayden Ballantyne, along with veteran Des Headland, returned from long-term injuries. With Pavlich expected to play more as a forward this season, the Dockers boast numerous options in their front half, particularly as Michael Johnson, Chris Tarrant, Luke McPharlin, Antoni Grover and prodigal son Adam McPhee can all be swung in there at times to mix things up.

Weaknesses: Fremantle's primary weakness is still its general level of experience. Following Harvey's first full season in charge in 2008, the Dockers underwent one of the biggest clean-outs seen by any AFL club in many years and as a result, played 11 debutants in 2009. Overall 13 of Fremantle's 41 players have made their debuts in 2008 or 2009, while there are another eight on the Dockers list who have not played their first game. But the classes of 2008 and 2009 include talents like Rhys Palmer, Stephen Hill and Nick Suban and all will be better for the extra year's experience, even if 2008 NAB Rising Star Palmer missed most of it with a knee injury. A key problem, for Fremantle, though, is Dean Solomon's unexpected retirement. Aside from Pavlich and Paul Hasleby, the Dockers generally fielded a light-weight and inexperienced midfield last year, with Solomon the hard nut protecting the young bodies. He was also the club's top tackler in 2009 with 89 to his name and overcoming his loss will be a big challenge to the young Freo on-ball division.

X-Factor: Hayden Ballantyne: Who would have thought the Dockers could replace Jeff Farmer as quickly as they did. Farmer's retirement at the end of 2008 left the small forward, general nuisance role void but Ballantyne seems to fit the bill to a tee. Despite his miniature status (he wanted to become a jockey), Ballantyne tackles and harasses with the best of them and has a knack for scoring those crumbing, mosquito-type goals that fans love and opposition supporters generally hate. The 22-year-old 2008 Sandover medallist had a slow start to his time at Fremantle after undergoing pre-season wrist surgery last year, but looks set for a big impact in 2010.

Best 22:
B: Broughton, Grover, Dodd
HB: Duffield, Tarrant, Suban
C: Crowley, Hasleby, Mundy
HF: Johnson, McPhee, Ibbotson
F: Mayne, Pavlich, Ballantyne
R: Sandilands, Palmer, Hill
IC: Hayden, Headland, Schammer, McPharlin

After Round 22: 13th. This is the second year of Fremantle's massive rebuilding program and despite the bottom four finish in 2009, the signs are reasonably good. Having turned over the list considerably, the Dockers now boast a very solid base of young, emerging talent, led by the likes of Palmer, Hill, Suban, Mayne, Ballantyne and Garrick Ibbotson. All these players will be better for an extra year of bulking up and in some cases, their first full pre-season. The club has also successfully used its rookie list in recent years to unearth players like Greg Broughton and Paul Duffield and it seems there's more talent to come, with Michael Barlow and Clancee Pearce impressing at times as well. Despite the class of players like Pavlich, Sandilands and Hasleby, one suspects it will be another year or two before this young group really blossoms. The problem in this is that Harvey has just one season remaining to convince the club and new president Steve Harris that he's the man for the job. At present the former Bomber has a mere 31 percent success rate from the 51 matches he's coached and a poor start to the year could almost condemn him. But the Dockers have enjoyed their best NAB Cup campaign in history and if they can take that positivity into the season proper as they navigate that horror eight-round stretch, then it may be possible for Fremantle to gain some momentum in the season's second half, possibly setting the club up for a real tilt in 2011.