Fremantle will be desperately hoping Luke Jackson and Jye Amiss are ready to go for round one after their forward line failed to fire without the star pair in a 39-point loss to Port Adelaide.

The Dockers struggled to test the new defensive pairing of Aliir Aliir and Esava Ratugolea who were aerially dominant against a Fremantle attack lacking a primary target.

It was nearly a perfect night for Port Adelaide in their 13.14 (92) to 8.5 (53) win at Alberton Oval on Friday night, with an ankle injury to Zak Butters the only sour note.

The Power took their reigning fairest and best winner out of the game in the opening term after he twisted his ankle in an innocuous incident, only 16 days from their season opener against West Coast at Adelaide Oval.

Butters’ absence didn’t hurt Port Adelaide as they threatened to blow the Dockers away in the second term when they opened up a 27-point lead, before breaking the game open in the third with four unanswered goals.

Fremantle fans would be excited by the promising performance of former skipper Nat Fyfe, with the dual Brownlow medallist bursting out of the blocks with 10 touches and four clearances in the opening term.

Fyfe would finish with 26 touches, 13 contested and five clearances but most importantly played 75 per cent of the game – all of it as a midfielder – in his best showing for some time.

Hayden Young also looked comfortable in his move from defence to the midfield, booting two second-quarter goals to go with 26 disposals, five clearances, eight score involvements and seven tackles to be Fremantle’s most influential player.

Vice-captains Caleb Serong (29 disposals and seven clearances) and Andy Brayshaw (24 and seven) were typically productive but weren’t as damaging forward of centre.

Fremantle won the clearance count 35-29 meaning the concern for coach Justin Longmuir was their lack of presence in attack in the absence of Amiss and Jackson.

They took only five marks inside 50 for the game compared to 18 by from Port Adelaide who had a good spread in their forward line led by a three-goal performance from former Eagle Willie Rioli.

Josh Treacy failed to have an impact as the main man in attack and only got his hands on the footy when he pinch-hit in the ruck, while veteran Matt Taberner didn’t do himself any favours of breaking back into the AFL side early in the season with a goalless showing.

Former Essendon forward Patrick Voss had some good moments, including a long-range goal, while Sam Switkowski and Michael Walters (two goals) looked dangerous at ground level but a lack of supply left them with little to do.

Fremantle’s wing puzzle is also still open but an injury a knee injury to Nathan O’Driscoll leaves them with little options.

Jeremy Sharp and veteran Jaeger O’Meara spent the most time in the position but neither were particularly damaging with 10 and eight disposals respectively.

Brayshaw and Matt Johnson (12 disposals) also rotated through, but both were more damaging at the clearances where the Dockers have an embarrassment of riches.

Ruckman Sean Darcy only played a half, collecting four touches and 18 hit-outs as the Dockers look to ease him into the season opener after ankle surgery late last year.

Johnson and Switkowski were also pulled out at the final change, with Bailey Banfield, Neil Erasmus and Josh Draper all coming on for the final term.

SCOREBOARD

PORT ADELAIDE 2.3, 7.5, 11.11, 13.14 (92)

FREMANTLE 2.2, 5.3, 5.3, 8.5 (53)

Goals – PORT ADELAIDE: W Rioli 3 C Dixon 2 T Boak D Byrne-Jones W Drew T Marshall J McEntee C Rozee I Soldo O Wines. FREMANTLE: M Walters 2 H Young 2 J Sharp C Simpson S Switkowski P Voss.

Best – PORT ADELAIDE: C Rozee O Wines D Houston J Horne-Francis E Ratugolea W Rioli R Burton. FREMANTLE: H Young C Serong N Fyfe A Pearce A Brayshaw L Ryan.

Injuries – PORT ADELAIDE: Z Butters (ankle).

Umpires: J Howorth S Meredith P Rebeschini N McGinness. Crowd: 4939 at Alberton Oval.