Fremantle forward Sam Switkowski says his side will not draw on last year’s season-ending loss to Gold Coast for motivation ahead of Sunday’s clash with the same opponent.

The Dockers’ 2025 campaign ended at the hands of the Suns in an elimination final boilover, with since-retired veteran David Swallow kicking a behind from more than 50m out inside the final seconds to condemn them to a heartbreaking one-point defeat.

Fremantle needed to storm home and win 12 of their final 14 games in order to qualify for the finals in 2025, but they have set up their 2026 season very differently, rocketing a game clear at the top of the ladder on the back of a club-record 13-game streak of victories.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast have struggled to justify their status as early-season premiership favourites and will enter the clash with the Dockers at Optus Stadium sitting ninth on the ladder on the back of four consecutive losses.

Switkowski — who was sidelined by a knee injury for last year’s season-ending loss to the Suns — said much had changed for both sides over the last nine months.

“Personally, I didn’t play in that game, but obviously, it was very heartbreaking at the time,” Switkowski said.

“You really just have to move on pretty quickly from these things. I feel like we’re a completely different team now than what we were at the end of last season and I think they’re the same as well.

“If you focus too much on the past or holding grudges or anything like that, I’m not sure how much it helps, I feel like it’s more of a distraction.”

Switkowski’s sentiments echoed those expressed by his coach, Justin Longmuir, on Tuesday.

“There’s been a lot of games that have happened between now and then, and both teams are different in a lot of different ways,” Longmuir said on Seven.

“We’ll be preparing for their best footy, which they’ve probably been showing but not as consistently as they like.”

Earlier in the week, Gold Coast stalwart Touk Miller said his side would draw belief from their most recent trip to Perth.

“Last time we played them there, we won. So we can only take confidence in that,” Miller said.

“We feel like that our game plan is starting to stack up so hopefully it can turn into a win this weekend.”