Fremantle has run out of excuses heading into its crunch match against North according to Matthew Pavlich.

Winless after three rounds, the Dockers have been adjusting to a new game plan but their captain believes they've had enough time to adapt.

“The game plan has changed a fair bit from last year and that’s where we’ve been tinkering and trying to improve,” Pavlich said.

“With any type of shift there is a bit of time before it gets implemented and executed the way we want."

Pavlich said the coaches have done their part, now it's up to those on the field to show the way.

“Ross and the coaches are going a great job of explaining, and teaching us but the players are trying to get up to speed as quickly as we can.

“We feel like we need to take more ownership of the decisions we’re making with the ball in hand.

“There are two points of ball use; there’s the skill aspect, making the time throughout the week to improve the skills, and execution on game day.

“Secondly, there’s the decision making process and how that fits into our game plan.”

While the delivery to the Fremantle forwards hasn't been ideal, Pavlich believes they've provided a good return.

“We haven’t been too bad, in terms of how many shots we’re having at goal,” Pavlich said.

And he expects Chris Mayne to bounce back against the Kangaroos on Sunday at Etihad after a sluggish start.

“As a forward, you do go through peaks, troughs and a variety of form in front of goal," Pavlich said.

“He’s not having the best time of it right now, but he’s working incredibly hard to improve."