It will be mate against mate when Fremantle butt heads with Essendon in Sunday's AFL clash at Subiaco Oval.

The Dockers, with former Bombers Dean Solomon, Mark Johnson and Kepler Bradley on their list, have a distinctive Essendon feel about them.

Solomon and Johnson will line up for the Dockers on Sunday but Essendon midfielder Adam Ramanauskas, a close friend of Solomon, said niceties would be cast aside for the day.

"There will never be an issue of going a little bit softer because you are playing an ex-teammate or a friend, it's probably you are going to go that little bit harder because you don't want him to beat you," Ramanauskas said.

"(There's) a bit of banter during the week but once the ball is bounced it's a game of football and we both want to win as much as each other.

"It will be exciting to play against Solly. We used to room together with every trip we went on (when he also played for Essendon) so we probably know each other a little too well in certain senses but it's going to be fun."

The Dockers have made three changes for the match, recalling Scott Thornton, Steven Dodd and Clayton Hinkley to replace Michael Johnson (ankle), Jeff Farmer (club suspension) and Ryan Murphy (omitted).

Essendon have made just the one change, with Ricky Dyson coming in for Henry Slattery, who suffered a fractured cheekbone in last week's sickening clash with Brendan Fevola.

Johnson, who played 194 games for the Bombers before moving west over the summer, will line up for his 200th game.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP