FREMANTLE captain Matthew Pavlich says his side will change very little when it travels to Etihad Stadium to face the Bombers on Sunday.  

Freo thrashed Adelaide by 56 points in round one, and will attempt to win their first two games of the season for the first time since 1997, while also turning the tide on a terrible 7-22 record at Etihad Stadium.

Pavlich said he didn’t believe in comparing past Fremantle teams with the current line-up and his side would travel to Melbourne confident.

“I don’t really believe in the hoodoos,” Pavlich said from Fremantle Oval on Monday. “Teams change and game systems change. It’s different week to week, let alone year to year.

“If we play the way we’ve trained and the way we’ve developed our game plan, we know the end result will occur.

“From memory the team that’ll run out on Sunday will be a little bit different from 1997, so I don’t think [the record] is going to make any difference whatsoever.”

Fremantle stunned the Crows on Sunday night, kicking six unanswered goals in the second quarter to build a 36-point half-time lead.

The side was briefly challenged in the third term, but kicked away to an impressive win and Pavlich said Fremantle would stick to the same game plan against the Dons. 

“Obviously each week against different opposition you alter your game plan slightly given the strengths of the opposition,” he said.

“But good teams play to their strengths (and) play to their game plan more often than not. We have to do that more often than not this year.

“It was great to see the whole team go out and play the way we’ve been training for the last three or four months (and) show what we can do early on in the season after we trained so hard.”

Essendon challenged reigning premier Geelong in round one, holding a 24-point lead halfway through the third term, and Pavlich said Fremantle understood the challenge that awaits it.

“We understand how close the competition is and how good the competition is,” he said. “But we’re backing in our game plan. If we play the way we did last night ... we’re confident we can get the result.

“We’re on the job for next week already.”

Sunday will be Adam McPhee’s first game against his former side and Pavlich said the Fremantle players were behind their new teammate.

McPhee made an underwhelming start to his second stint at Fremantle, finishing Sunday’s match with six possessions and three critical errors.

“He’s obviously working as hard as he can to understand the playing group,” Pavlich said. “He came to us a little bit later by virtue of the pre-season draft, so he’s a little bit behind.

“Adam will be fired up and ready to go (and) our players will be supporting him as best as possible.

“I’m sure he’ll be out to impress.”