Fremantle's dream forward duo Chris Tarrant and Matthew Pavlich combined seamlessly as the Dockers defeated the Crows by 25 points in their AFL trial match in Adelaide.

Tarrant kicked four goals and Pavlich dominated in Fremantle's comprehensive 12.11 (83) to 7.16 (58) triumph at AAMI Stadium.

The pair were the main beneficiaries of a rucking master class from by 211cm tall Docker Aaron Sandilands, who hand-fed an accomplished midfield led by the likes of Paul Haselby, Brett Peake and Josh Carr.

The Dockers were never threatened from the moment Tarrant kicked his first major of a lacklustre contest before 5,278 spectators.

The former Collingwood spearhead snared two goals within two minutes of the opening quarter to spark a four-goal term by the visitors which established an 18-point buffer at the first break.

The second quarter was a stilted affair, the teams collecting nine consecutive behinds between them in an errant 20 minutes as conversion became a lost art.

Crows ruckman Ben Hudson broke the goal deadlock by rolling through a goal nearly 24 minutes into the quarter but Tarrant restored the Dockers' advantage to 15 points at halftime with his third just before the siren.

Adelaide was a paltry 2.10 at halftime, their midfield outclassed by a Fremantle side which relentlessly harassed and pressured the Crows into an error-prone outfit.

Adelaide, which has won just one of four encounters this pre-season, failed to improve in the second half in a concerning display for coach Neil Craig.

The Crows defenders were unable to restrict Tarrant and Pavlich, who only kicked one goal but created others with shrewd marking and a series of constructive handballs - two in 60 seconds of the third term resulted in goals which extended Fremantle's advantage.

Young Docker Daniel Gilmore also made the most of his opportunities with two goals, while Peake posted the game highlight with a dashing three-bounce run before launching an accurate bomb from 55m to goal in the third term.

Adelaide leaned heavily on defenders Graham Johncock (one goal) and Nathan Bassett to retain respectability, which was partly garnered with a finishing burst of four goals in 10 minutes to end the game which flattered their scoreline after being outplayed all night.

Matthew Bode (two goals) was the only multiple goalkicker for the hosts.

Fremantle's deserved victory came with a potential cost, utility Matthew Carr reported for allegedly striking Adelaide's Nathan Bassett after a crude last-quarter clash.

The Dockers are already to start the season proper without goalsneak Jeff Farmer and Michael Johnston, who have both already been suspended this pre-season.

Despite the discipline woes, Fremantle has a side set to challenge the AFL pacesetters, according to vanquished coach Neil Craig.

"They have got a good squad, a maturing side ... you would expect Fremantle to be up there again," Craig said of the Dockers.

Craig was unimpressed with Adelaide's sloppy effort, in which the Crows couldn't even capitalise on their numerical advantage of playing 25 players to Fremantle's 24.

But the Crows coach said his charter was to continue the pre-season development of the youngsters in his squad, which already has 10 players on the injured list.

"My responsibility is to go for development," he said.

"It's imperative we keep doing that ... and I like what I see."

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