Sydney coach Dean Cox says his side will draw confidence from their strong record at Optus Stadium ahead of their blockbuster top-of-the-table clash with Fremantle.

Having spent much of the season occupying the top two places on the ladder, the Dockers and Swans will finally meet in what shapes as one of the games of the season on Thursday night.

Fremantle remain in first despite having their club-record 14-game winning streak brought to a halt by Greater Western Sydney in Canberra on Saturday, with their 21-point defeat to the Giants reducing their buffer over second-placed Sydney to a solitary win.

Coming off a five-day break, the Dockers will be confronting a Sydney side which has won their last seven games in Perth, including a 128-point demolition of West Coast earlier this season.

Freo have not yet tasted defeat at Optus Stadium this year, and the amazing atmosphere created by their fans at home games has captured the attention of the football world in recent weeks. But Cox said his team would not be intimidated.

“We speak about the environment that’s going to be created. The players are aware of that,” Cox said

“We don’t talk about someone’s home record or what they do, we just prepare that they’re going to play a really strong brand of footy and we need to match that.

“It’s an amazing stadium and the players love coming here. We do have a good record in Perth as a football club as well, so we need to lean into that a little bit.

“It is a daunting experience, coming with 58,000 of the opposition fans, but some of the players really enjoy it as well.”

The game will pit Cox against Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir, a pair of former West Coast assistants who both begun their post-playing careers at the Eagles.

The duo both left at the end of the 2017 season but came back together for the return of State of Origin in February, with Longmuir working under Cox as he headed up WA’s side.

Cox said he was not at all surprised to see the Dockers’ progression under a former colleague he greatly admired.

“I’ve just been really impressed with Fremantle and the way they go about it. He’s doing a great job,” he said.

“The good part about Justin is he was a bit more experienced than me, so he gave me a lot of his knowledge on how to handle situations.

“They’re playing a really (process-driven) brand of footy, and that’s what Justin is. He’s very strong in where he wants to get to and how he gets his players there. He’s doing well.

“We’re both lucky to be in a position to coach two great football clubs.”

Swans star Tom Papley was listed as a test in the club’s injury update on Tuesday, having spent the last six weeks on the sidelines due to a calf strain.

The small forward looked unencumbered during their light captain’s run at Optus Stadium on Wednesday morning and Cox was definitive over his status to take on the Dockers, saying: “Paps will play”.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him for the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“He’s done a huge amount of volume at training and he’s ready to go.”