Joel Hamling is looking forward to the challenge of facing his former teammates when Freo takes on the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.

The defender isn’t expecting life to be easy for Fremantle despite the reported ‘downfall’ of the Bulldogs since claiming the 2016 premiership. 

After a slow start their season, a youthful Bulldogs outfit defeated Essendon in round three and went agonisingly close to upsetting premiership fancies Sydney in round four.

“It’s strange but it’s exciting for me,” said Hamling about facing his former team.

“It’s two years ago since playing in the grand final but it’s always good to see the boys and play against them now.

“I think if you look back at the Dogs, they’ve missed 11 players from their premiership year.

“I’d say 11 players is a lot to take out but we saw last week how they went against Sydney, it’s pretty exciting for the team.” 

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Hamling is enjoying a new role in Fremantle’s defence since the return of Alex Pearce, who has started taking on the opposition’s main forward. 

Pearce has been exceptional to start the season, only conceding four goals on his opponents despite playing on the likes of Jeremy Cameron, Tom Lynch, Joe Daniher and Charlie Dixon.

“I don’t mind (Alex coming back), it adds another string to my bow as I can play tall and small and help Alex where I can,” Hamling said.

“I can drop off or help him out in the big one on one contests.

“At times, when Alex comes off I play on the (main forward) but Alex, he’s had a great start to the year and he’s going really well and embracing that role.”

Hamling said Fremantle missed the run of Ed Langdon and Bradley Hill against the Giants in round four, where Freo fell by 31-points in Canberra.

Langdon was a late withdrawal against GWS due to illness while Hill has missed the past two weeks with a knee injury.

On Tuesday, Langdon appeared to be back to full fitness while Hill worked away from the main group.

“He’s a great player, Bradley,” Hamling said.

“It would definitely be good to get him back. We missed that run over the weekend, with (out) Ed Langdon as well. If we get them back out this weekend it would be great for us.”

Hamling also commented on the progress of midfielder Harley Bennell, who trained for most of the session as he recovers from a calf injury. 

"It’s really exciting,” Haming said.

“Harley's really bubbly, he's been out running today, he has great skills and, hopefully, he's back in the next few weeks.

"He's come back and bought in and worked hard. You could see that today, he's going really well."