Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich will end the longest grand final drought of any current AFL player.

Pavlich has played 290 AFL games – the most by any current player without appearing in a premiership decider.

He’s well inside the record of Fitzroy champ Bernie Quinlan, who played 366 games without a grand final.

But next Saturday’s play-off against Hawthorn looms as Pavlich’s crowning moment in a career already widely acclaimed as among the all-time greats.

The Dockers’ captain is ominously nearing peak form after a season hampered by injury and suspension.

The 31-year-old was the early supreme leader in Fremantle’s rout of Sydney in Saturday night’s preliminary final.

He took less than 10 seconds to make his mark – literally grabbing the opening kick of the match from teammate David Mundy.

His set shot at goal missed, and he soon sprayed another, but Pavlich was the dominant forward, finishing with two majors in Freo’s thumping of the shellshocked Swans.

In the lead-up, Pavlich said the Dockers were preparing for a “footy war”. But his stunning opening set the tone and was pivotal in Sydney rapidly raising the white flag.

Pavlich missed 10 games this season with a foot injury and, soon after returning, was suspended for three games for a front-on hit on West Coast’s Mitch Brown.

But the preliminary final was his sixth game back and he looms as Fremantle’s trump card against the Hawks at a ground he loves: in 27 games at the MCG, Pavlich has potted 72 goals.

Pavlich’s grand final appearance also rewards staunch loyalty – the South Australian has turned down repeated lucrative offers to return home and play to his native state.

In Freo’s dark days, he was their shining light – claiming six All Australian jumpers, winning six club champion awards and finishing runner-up twice, and also collecting eight leading goalkicker awards at the club.