Alex Pearce isn't allowing himself to look too far ahead amid Fremantle's dominant first half of the season, but has looked back at 13 years at the club ahead of his milestone match against the Cats on Thursday.

The team's chance to rectify their only loss this year to date is also the skipper's 150th career game.

Since the 10-point defeat to Geelong in round one, the Dockers have strung together 12 straight wins and maintaining their perch in top spot on the ladder after their mid season bye at the weekend.

Pearce is trying his best to park any thoughts of the ultimate success for now, while maintaining focus on the week-to-week, the Palawa man told reporters on Friday.

Speaking to media on Monday, Freo coach Justin Longmuir reiterated their short-term thinking, but said he was pleased to see the competition catch on to how good a captain Pearce has proved in the role.

Longmuir was all praise Pearce's balanced approach to leadership, ability to pick his moments, impact on games and resilience through injury.

Pearce missed his entire first season in the AFL with injury and has endured significant interruptions throughout the years since.

The 31-year-old sees his career as defined patches, he said on reflection, from an 18-year-old draftee "trying to make his way", middle years improving into the best player he could be, and into recent taking on captaincy and the new challenges which came with it.

Those middle seasons also brought a lean period in terms of on-field success.

It's a journey he feels has set himself up to be the leader he is today, and for a team playing well and "hopefully really going somewhere".

Part of that is keeping helping the group enjoy their current successes while keeping a level head about the highs and lows, enjoying the season and producing their best football, Pearce outlined.

"My life and career will forever be linked to Freo... I'm very lucky to get drafted to Freo. To be on this journey and have this experience.

"(The club) has been one of the biggest influences on me as a person, and I'm very grateful for that."

Pearce quickly knocked back any speculation about a homecoming to run out for the incoming Tasmanian AFL team.

The "strides we've taken as a team" have also eased the load on his shoulders, as much as contributed to their historic stretch of form, he said.

Pearce said there's a matured, unselfish, consistent side with individuals both lifting performance and emerging as leaders themselves behind their success so far.

It feels like my job as captain has become a lot easier because of the number of players that have elevated their leadership and their ability to influence others. I'm proud of the steps that we've taken," Pearce said.

The Cats travel west after bouncing back from back-to-back narrow losses with a 45-point win over Gold Coast on Friday night.

The Suns had put the competition on notice with a 10-goal victory over Geelong in the opening round, before last year's grand finalists responded the following weekend to hand Fremantle their sole loss for the year.

"You learn a lot from your losses, and we learn a lot from that game," Pearce said ahead of his 150th.

While they couldn't handle Geelong's pressure at the time, Pearce admitted, the last four months have shown, after revising how they adjust when put on the back foot, they have the ability to absorb and respond in games.

"As with every week, we feel like we're playing good footy, and we'll do everything we can to sort of bring our best footy and see if they can handle it," Pearce said.

Fremantle appear poised to welcome back star mid Caleb Serong for Thursday night, with a number of other names returning to fitness also set to force selection decisions.

While "you don't want to break that momentum", Longmuir said on Monday, the parallels with the start of the season weren't a major concern for the coach ahead of hosting Geelong in a top four clash.

Fremantle led until mid-way through the final quarter in the two team's previous clash.

"We couldn't quite get it done last time we played them, but still played some good footy and got the game looking how we wanted to for a fair portion of it. There's some positives to take out of that, but we just need to do it for longer," Longmuir said.

On Pearce, Longmuir said: "I think the AFL world has slowly caught on to how good of a leader he is."

"He's got a real presence about him, he picks and chooses his moments, he's got a hard edge with his leadership, but he's got a real caring nature about him, and is able to impose himself on games and lead in games, which is a real balance for any leader to find.

"The resilience he's shown to be able to get over his injuries and become a more consistent player, and then not only just focus on himself in those moments, but make sure he's focusing on the team, and we're getting better, it's been a pleasure to watch.

"I'm glad the rest of the competition has caught on".