FREMANTLE coach Mark Harvey can't wait to get the AFL season underway against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday.

He says the ground holds his best career memories and a good result for the Dockers can set up a strong start to the season.

Harvey was keeping his cards close to his chest about whether first-round draft pick Rhys Palmer would make his debut, but he and the team are looking forward to taking on the Magpies before returning home for a three-week stand.

"We are playing one of the biggest clubs in Melbourne at the MCG and that's where we want to play a lot of footy,” Harvey said. “It's a ground that we have a good record at and the boys are looking forward to setting themselves alight in round one.

"It's not just another game. It's a game where you like to see just where you are at. It's not the be all and end all as we have three games at Subiaco after that, but we have a big month ahead of us and this is an important aspect of it."

After starring in WAFL club East Fremantle's league side in 2007 and for Western Australia in the National Championships, Palmer has impressed in the pre-season, but Harvey is weighing up whether the big occasion at the MCG is the right time for him to debut.

"Rhys is in the mix,” Harvey said. “Collingwood has a wide midfield in terms of the numbers they throw through there and we have to be up to matching that strength of theirs.

"You always look at a young player in a first game and what's appropriate. It always ignites a team when a younger player comes in and shows an ability to change the direction of the game and sometimes that's what older players need around them. It's just a matter of if we think this game is the right occasion for him."

Harvey has listened and watched with interest the talk of Collingwood's travelling over the pre-season and was quick to note that the Dockers deal with that all the time.

"We've had a look at a couple of games and I've read with interest how they've had a hectic campaign by playing around the world, but we don’t complain when we travel," he said.

"We went to South Africa and got crook, too, as they did in the United Arab Emirates, and all I know is that we are the longest travelling team in the competition."

While Collingwood has lost the likes of Nathan Buckley and James Clement from last year's side, Harvey isn’t expecting the Magpies to suffer much, largely due to the coaching of Mick Malthouse, but he might try some tricks against him.

"Mick's a fantastic coach, has the score on the board and has been a mastermind to coach as long as he has,” Harvey said. “He has been fantastic for football. I've been brought up to hide what you do, but tricks can only take you a certain way, it will be your ball-winning ability that decides the game in the end.

"You can throw in all the tricks, but in the end that might not matter if we aren’t in control of the game. Mick is very good at the way he instructs his players and they know what they are doing, so the experience they've lost won't have a big impact."