Within seconds, the then 18-year-old forward had kicked his first goal and set sail on his AFL career.
All Pavlich remembers from that moment was the excitement.
“I lined up next to Mods (Modra) in the goal square, who was a childhood hero of mine growing up in Adelaide,” he said.
"The ball landed in my lap in the first 30 seconds and I kicked a goal.”
Pavlich kicked another goal soon after, but opponents Melbourne soon tightened the screws on the upstart debutant.
“David Neitz came down and played on me not long after that and I hardly got a touch, so it was a sharp reminder of the reality of AFL,” Pavlich said.
Fifteen years later, Pavlich is unrivalled as Fremantle’s greatest ever player, and he has claim to be the most versatile footballer of the modern era, winning All Australian selection as a defender, midfielder and forward.
A man with high moral values, Pavlich remained humble and realistic when asked about his status in the game.
"I have been pretty lucky,” he said.
"I have played with a lot of guys over the journey that have had horrific luckwith injuries. Although I have had my fair share - nine operations and plenty of little niggles along the way - I have been pretty lucky in general.
“I was just going through some records recently and it will be interesting to see how the body's holding up in five or 10 years' time. But you don't regret one minute of it, because of the great journey and the thrill of running out there every week.
“Touch wood there is some more luck over the next couple of weeks and years, however long I play for.”
And ever the team man, Pavlich stressed that Saturday night’s clash with Geelong at Patersons Stadium was not about his 300th game.
"As much as I understand the week externally is made about me, I would just really like the team to go out and win the game of football and take the spotlight away from me a little bit and us go back to playing our very best game of footy and be 5-4 going into thebreak,” he said.
“It would be great to have 43,000 members and supporters there on the weekend wearing purple and cheering as loud as they can for a victory.”
Match Day Information
Be in the rooms pre-match for Pav's 300th
