Alex Pearce says Fremantle can still match it with the best; the club he's new to lead and the one who taught him about his culture.

Ahead of the 2023 season the Palawa man took the reins as Dockers captain, becoming the eighth Indigenous man to lead a VFL/AFL team in more than a century of the competition.

Fremantle have so far fallen short of the expectations many had for them after finishing fifth on the ladder after last year's home-and-away season.

They were later best by Collingwood, a strong fancy for this year's premiership, in the semi finals.

Despite the wobbles to start the year, Pearce, 27, believes his side's best football still matches it at the top.

"I don't think we've quite found our best footy yet," he told the National Indigenous Times.

"We've had some changes with the team, which sometimes can take a little bit of time for those guys to get accustomed to their role. We're still building.

"Like any stage during the early parts of this season, we're just looking to improve and certainly we've touched on our best footy at stages but the challenge is, and the goal is, to try and maintain our best footy for larger periods of the game and keep building.

"I feel like we've seen signs of where we can get to."

Pearce said elite level play hangs on defensive structure, contested ball wins and the ability to rebound quickly out of the back half and into scoring opportunities.

It's a blueprint the Dockers will look to realise as the season progresses.

A Palawa man from Tassie's north-west, Pearce was on a plane to the other side of the country within days of being picked up by the Dockers with pick 13 of the national draft.

For many, the move would present a tough obstacle to reckon with, but for an 18-year-old Pearce, the excitement of entering the AFL system overrode the butterflies.

"As a young 18 year old kid, it's just onto the next thing," he said.

His connections and friendships within the club came easily.

Pearce's career has been harboured by injury and included a twelve month wait to make his debut in 2015.

Despite sustained periods off the field, the 201cm defender has been held in high regard, sorely missed and when stringing together regular game time, key to his sides campaigns across eight seasons.

In his new role as skipper, Pearce said getting a taste for it early made for an easier transition before being given the permanent position ahead of the 2023 season.

He stood in for previous captain Nat Fyfe who missed the middle portion of last year with injury.

Although never "circling a date", the appointment was an ambition since early days.

"I consider myself like a bit of a leader and in my second year I was a part of our emerging leaders group within the club. So it was certainly a natural trait that I wanted to be able to get the most out of myself and get the most out of others," Pearce said.

"The first couple of games I filled in for Nat there was a bit of an unknown about what my responsibility would be, what I would have to do, talking to the boys before the game (and) just what came along with the role.

"You find out pretty quick that not too many things change. It's a bit of a trap you can get into (by) putting too much pressure on yourself and trying to do too much."

Pearce's elevation to captaincy put him alongside the likes of Graham "Polly" Farmer, Adam Goodes, Michael Long, Chris Johnson, Gavin Wanganeen and contemporaries Steven May and Jy Simpkin, who is now co-captain at North Melbourne, as the only First Nations men to lead a VFL/AFL side.

It's illustrious company and something he said is "overwhelming" as well as an honour.

In February, Dockers footy boss Peter Bell said the club came to the decision easily.

"He's a really capable leader with a lot of room to continue to grow and continue to inspire his teammates and represent the club in its best light," Bell said.

"What you want from your leaders is to be a real conduit from the coaches out onto the field and during the week, of course, and Alex was highly skilled in all of those areas."

Pearce credits Freo with being a driving force behind him learning about his culture, history and connection to Tassie, thanks in large part to the Indigenous men he has played beside since arriving at the club.

"Guys like Michael Johnson, Sonny (Michael) Walters, Stephen Hill, Danyle Pearce and these sorts of names, they were great.

"My connection to my culture isn't as strong as some others.

"Over the years, I've tried to learn a little bit more and I'm still sort of on a journey of learning more about my culture, my history and my connection to Tasmania.. It's something I'm very proud of.

"And the opportunity to help design our (Sir Doug Nicholls round) jumper this year has been really powerful and really meaningful and it's really happy with how things have turned out.

"I hope that lots of Tasmanians can see and learn something from it and be really proud that they've got someone sort of in the AFL that's proud of his history."

In 2023 Fremantle will adopt the Noongar name for their country and play as Walyalup Football Club, similar to the move Melbourne (Naarm Football Club) took last year.

Pearce is zero-ing in on 100 senior games with Dockers.