Fair Play Freo: The Purple Army Deserved Better Than That

Righto, I never thought I’d be the bloke writing nice things about the Fremantle Dockers, but here we are. Watching that small but loud group turn up to welcome the boys home after copping it late in the granny against Brisbane, I’ll admit it — even an Eagles diehard like me felt something in the chest.

Because let’s be honest, over here in the west we know what it’s like to fall just short on the big stage in front of a stadium full of people who couldn’t find Freo or Subiaco on a map if you paid them. It hurts different when you’ve flown five hours to get there.

A Loss That Stings But A Turnout That Says Something

Losing a Grand Final in the dying stages is about as cruel as footy gets. One more contested possession, one better decision at the death, and the whole story’s different. Dockers fans have every right to be filthy about how it slipped away against the Lions, no arguments from me there.

But you don’t get punters rocking up to the airport at whatever ungodly hour that flight landed, in Purple, with signs and scarves and the whole bit, unless the connection between this club and its people is the real deal. That’s not manufactured, that’s not a marketing department’s idea, that’s actual loyalty built over a long, long time of near misses and hard yards.

What Could Have Been, Again

Every WA club knows this feeling in its bones. We’ve had our own grand final heartbreaks over the journey and copped the same pattern — build something special, get within touching distance, and then watch it slip through your fingers on the last afternoon of the season. Freo fans are entitled to sit there this week replaying every passage of that final quarter and wondering what if.

What if that one shot had gone through instead of hitting the post. What if the ball had bounced their way at a contest with two minutes on the clock. That’s the cruelty of the sport — you can play finals footy for six weeks and have the whole thing decided by an inch here or there in the last five minutes of the season.

The Travel Question Nobody Wants To Talk About

I’ll say what plenty of us over here have said for years — the travel burden on West Australian clubs in September is real and it’s brutal, and it’s about time the competition acknowledged it properly instead of just nodding along and doing nothing. Flying your whole squad and support staff and families across the country for a decider, staying in hotel rooms instead of your own bed the week of the biggest game of your life, it’s a genuine disadvantage and I don’t care who tells you otherwise.

It’s not an excuse for the result, mind you — Brisbane were good enough on the day and you take nothing away from that. But when people wonder why WA clubs occasionally look a half-yard off the ultimate polish in a granny, have a think about the logistics of it all. It’s not a level playing field and it never really has been, not truely.

Respect Where It’s Due

Look, I’m not about to go soft on the Dockers — we’ll be lining up against them again next season wanting to knock their heads off same as always, that rivalry doesn’t cool down just because I’m writing a nice column. But there’s a difference between wanting to beat a team and wanting to see them humiliated, and any Eagles fan with half a brain knows a strong Fremantle is good for footy in this state.

Every time a WA club goes deep in September it’s good for us all. It’s good for crowd numbers, good for junior participation, good for the argument that this competition should be paying proper attention to what happens west of the Nullarbor instead of treating it as some exotic away trip for the commentary team.

The Bigger Picture For WA Footy

This is now another near miss to add to the pile for our state’s clubs on the last Saturday in September, and if I’m honest it’s getting a bit galling. We’re producing the talent, we’re pulling the crowds, and yet the trophy keeps ending up on the other side of the country more often than not. That’s a conversation the AFL competition ought to be having about scheduling and fixturing and all the rest of it, not just something we grumble about over a coldie after the final siren.

For the Dockers faithful specifically, though, this week isn’t about the bigger picture. It’s about turning up, showing the players you’re still there for them, and letting them know that a Grand Final loss doesn’t erase a genuinely brilliant season. They got further than most people outside the purple army gave them credit for at the start of the year, and that deserves acknowledging even from blokes like me who’ll never wear the colours.

Fair Dinkum Respect From Across The River

So here’s my honest take from the other side of the rivalry — good on the Freo fans who turned up. Good on the players for fronting the cameras with their heads held high instead of hiding away. And good on this state generally for producing another team that made the rest of the country sit up and take notice, even if the finish wasn’t the fairytale everyone over here was hoping for.

There’ll be time enough for the Eagles-Dockers stuff next season, the send-offs and the sledging and everything that comes with derby week. For now, take the pat on the back, Freo. You earned it, even in defeat. Just don’t expect me to be this nice about it again anytime soon.