Fremantle has taken the long road back to the AFL finals.
Since going down to Hawthorn in a Preliminary Final in 2015, 2536 days will have passed before the Dockers play against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The club has endured years of misery, including winning just four matches in 2016, and not more than 10 in a season until this year.
The former chief executive, football manager, head of sports science, and most notably, coach, have departed the club.
There have been errors in recruiting, with the failures of Jesse Hogan, Shane Kersten, and Harley Bennell of note.
While recruitment from other clubs hasn't worked at times, the Dockers have generally succeeded in the AFL draft.
Fremantle has drafted in 43 players since the end of the 2015 season, with 26 of those still on the list.
In fact, just four players remain at the club who have ever played in a final for the Dockers — Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Michael Walters and Matt Taberner.
Fyfe has already been ruled out of the match after suffering a hamstring injury in training.
Strengths
As Fremantle prepares to end its finals drought — a stretch only bettered by Carlton and Gold Coast — it can take comfort from its strengths.
They start in the midfield, with Sean Darcy winning the third most hitouts across the competition, despite playing just 19 games.
His ability to get his hand on the ball has allowed the Dockers to be ranked fifth in the league for clearances, an improvement from last season when they sat middle of the table.
At his feet run Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Will Brodie and the evergreen David Mundy. Brodie has been an inspired recruit from the Gold Coast Suns, collecting 126 clearances in 22 games.
The Dockers' competitiveness around the contest has helped slow the attacking movement of teams, which when combined with the ability of their defenders has resulted in them having the second-tightest defence in the league — conceding only three points more than reigning premiers Melbourne.
Only three teams have allowed less inside 50s.
Weaknesses
But while the Dockers midfield and defence is up there with the best in the league, its attack has left a lot to be desired.
Rory Lobb is the side's leading goalkicker, with 34 majors, while small forwards Lachie Schultz and Michael Frederick have 28 and 26 respectively.
Only six teams have kicked fewer goals than Fremantle's 251, and two of them have been battling for the wooden spoon all season.
In fact, of the top eight teams, the Dockers have the worst ratio of inside 50s to goals kicked, booting a major every 4.5 times they go inside the arc.
In contrast, Brisbane and Richmond kick a goal at better than every four entries.
Fremantle on the other hand had fewer forays forward than Carlton, Port Adelaide and Gold Coast, which are all not featuring in September.
If the Dockers can find some attacking flare to pair with their stoic defense, they will be a very difficult team to beat.
