Originally from Adelaide's Sacred Heart College and SAFNL side Woodville-West Torrens, Pavlich was selected by Fremantle with the fourth pick in the 1999 National Draft.
His combination of size, speed and skill saw him respected as one of the AFL's best all-round talents of the modern era. Pavlich's versatility and talent saw him named All-Australian on six occasions, with the honours coming under a range of roles as a midfielder, key defender and forward. Superb individual output was matched by Pavlich's role in helping build the club. He captained the Dockers for a record nine years, leading it in to September regularly including the club's sole Grand Final berth to date in 2013. Pavlich's 353 AFL games sit him inside the league's top 15 players for games played all-time, with only he and Richmond great Kevin Bartlett among that select group to kick 700 goals during their illustrious careers.