Fremantle barged their way into the finals - and booked a home final while they were at it - with Sunday’s gutsy road win over the Western Bulldogs.

Here’s what we know about the Dockers’ 2025 finals opener so far.

Where will Fremantle finish on the ladder?

While Sunday’s upset triumph saw them temporarily jump to fifth, the Dockers are locked in to finish sixth - and host a home elimination final at Optus Stadium.

Brisbane leapfrogged them after their 10-point win over Hawthorn at the Gabba on Sunday night, and Freo can’t move higher or lower regardless of the outcome of Wednesday night’s season finale between Gold Coast and Essendon.

Who will Fremantle play?

All eyes were on the Lions-Hawks clash at the Gabba on Sunday evening - and it was Brisbane who prevailed to book a top-four spot and rule themselves out of a trip west.

That means the Dockers’ elimination final opponent is down to two teams: Gold Coast or Hawthorn.

The Suns are the more likely of the two sides to earn the chance to face Freo. They’ll need to beat the Bombers by a margin of somewhere in the vicinity of 30 points - depending on how high-scoring the match is - to book their spot. The Suns are a 50-point favourite to win that game, according to bookmakers.

If Gold Coast lose to Essendon, or win by a margin of mid-20s or lower, it’ll be the Hawks who take on the Dockers.

When will the elimination final be?

The Optus Stadium clash will be in the first weekend of September, and while the AFL will likely hold off on releasing the schedule until after Wednesday night’s Gold Coast game, recent history suggests Saturday September 6 will be the most likely slot.

The past three seasons has seen an opening-week finals format of one Thursday night game, one Friday night game, and two Saturday matches - with no Sunday footy.

Fremantle’s 2022 elimination final at Optus Stadium against the Western Bulldogs was on the Saturday night of the opening weekend of finals, with a 6.10pm bouncedown off the back of a 2.35pm (WA time) start for the day’s previous final.

This looms as the most likely position for the Dockers’ clash in a fortnight’s time.

How do I get tickets?

Per the AFL: “Ticket on-sale dates for the 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series will be communicated in due course, with members to get first access to finals tickets.”

We might have to wait until post-Wednesday night for the league to release the details on how to purchase tickets from Ticketek.

A whopping 58,982 crammed into Optus Stadium for Fremantle’s sole final at the venue against the Dogs in 2022 - the Dockers’ largest-ever crowd for a match in WA, and the sixth-biggest Freo have ever played in front of.

Who will the Dockers play if they win their elimination final?

If Freo salute in front of their home fans, they’ll set up a road semifinal berth against the loser of second v third.

That means the Dockers’ prospective second-round opponent will be either Geelong or Brisbane.

Should Freo earn a win in that match-up - against either the Cats in Victoria or the Lions in Queensland - then they’ll have to stay on the road for their prelim to play the winner of the other qualifying final between Adelaide and Collingwood.

Win that, and a grand final awaits.