Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich believes consecutive practice matches against St Kilda and Geelong are the perfect way to steel the squad for a tough opening month of the AFL season.

The Dockers were handed a 70-point flogging by St Kilda last week and face a near full-strength Cats outfit at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

But Pavlich said facing off against last year’s grand finalists back-to-back would leave the team in good stead for the season proper, when the Dockers tackle Adelaide (home), Essendon (away), Geelong (home) and St Kilda (away) in a horror draw to start the season.

“We’re really excited about the challenge that presents right now and obviously in rounds one to four,” Pavlich said.

“We’ve got some great opposition coming up and we understand it’s going to be a tough start, but one we’re really looking forward to.

“It’s a great learning curve for some of our younger players, to play on some premiership stars and I think going into the season it’s a really good experience for them.”

While Hayden Ballantyne (knee) will be rested for another week and Rhys Palmer and Antoni Grover are still sidelined by their own knee injuries, ruckman Aaron Sandilands, Luke McPharlin, Des Headland, David Mundy and Chris Mayne have all been named after missing the Saints match.

Geelong, whose practice match against Brisbane last week was called off due to Melbourne’s storms, are missing just Max Rooke, Joel Corey and the retired Tom Harley from last year’s premiership side.

Headland has been plagued by injuries over the past two seasons, playing just 15 games in that period.

The 29-year-old, who played the first game of the pre-season but was then cut down by a hamstring complaint, gets the chance to prove his worth against the Cats in a bid to earn a round-one berth against Adelaide.

© AAP 2012

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