Alright, Fine — Flagmantle Is the Real Deal

Look, I want it on record that typing this hurt just a little bit. As a West Coast man born and bred, admitting that the team from the other side of the river might actually be premiership-quality is not something I do without a stiff coffee in hand and a good lie-down afterwards.

But here we go: Fremantle are the real deal. The Dockers are not a flash in the pan, they are not a mirage, and “Flagmantle” is no longer a punchline. If you’ve been sleeping on this side of the country while obsessing over Geelong’s ageing list or whatever Collingwood are doing this week, wake up — because the most complete team in the competition plays out of Cockburn, and they just went to the Gabba and handled themselves like a team that fully expected to win.

The Gabba Test Is a Proper Exam

Over here in the west, we know better than anyone what it means to travel for football. West Coast and Freo alike have been doing the red-eye to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and back for decades, playing on Sunday arenas full of hostile crowds while the eastern seaboard media writes its match previews from their cozy little studios. There’s no sympathy for WA clubs from the scheduling department, that’s for sure.

So when I say the Gabba trip is a real test, I mean it with genuine context. Brisbane don’t lose at home very often. The Lions are a proud, physical, proven finals side who have been deep in September more times than most care to count in recent years. They threw everything at the Dockers. And Fremantle had the answers.

That’s the line that should make rival clubs nervous. They had the answers. Not lucky bounces, not a rogue individual performance that bailed them out — genuine, team-level problem-solving, late in a contest, on the road.

What Makes This Dockers Team Different

The thing that always makes me a bit nervous about “next big thing” teams is when their brilliance is concentrated. One or two blokes going supernova while the rest of the list is ordinary. It looks great for a month, then a tag or an injury exposes the whole thing.

Fremantle don’t have that problem in 2025. Their talent is spread across the whole club in a way you genuinely don’t see very often. Caleb Serong is elite — and everyone knows it — but the Dockers can win on days when he’s quieter than usual. Andrew Brayshaw is as good a midfielder as there is in the competition. Hayden Young is doing things from defence that make you pull out your phone to check the quarter-time scores. And up forward, they’ve got the firepower and the smarts to manufacture goals out of almost nothing.

The midfield brigade is genuinely deep. That’s the bit that separates good teams from great teams. Depth. Fremantle can absorb a quiet performance or a niggling injury and still function. That’s the mark of genuine premiership credentials.

A Three-Month Streak That Demands Respect

Since about the middle of the season, the Dockers have been quietly reeling off one of the more impressive streaks of form we’ve seen from an Australian football club in years. Not just wins — wins in different ways, against different styles of opposition, in different conditions and time zones.

They’ve beaten teams in contested, hard-at-the-ball arm-wrestles. They’ve beaten teams in open, high-scoring affairs. They’ve beaten teams interstate. They’ve come from behind. They’ve been clinical from the front. They’ve defended when they’ve had to.

Over here in the west, we remember when West Coast were doing exactly this sort of thing — winning in a dozen diferent ways, making every opponent feel like no plan was quite enough. That 2018 group had that. And I can see echoes of it in this Fremantle side.

That’s not a comparison I make lightly. But it’s honest.

The East Coast Media Is Only Just Catching On

You know what’s funny? The eastern seaboard football media spent the first half of the season anointing teams from Victoria and Queensland as the powers of the competition. Now they’re slowly, begrudgingly turning their attention westward and discovering — oh! — the best team in the competition is in Perth. Big surprise.

If Fremantle were playing out of the MCG, they’d have had the flag ticker on every broadcast since July. Instead, they’ve had to do it quietly, with a bit less fanfare than they deserve, while the cameras pointed at clubs closer to where the commentators live.

I’m not going to pretend I don’t enjoy saying “told you so” in that situation, even about the Dockers. Over here in the west, we’re used to being the afterthought. It never stops being a little bit satisfying when the rest of the country has to catch up.

Outstanding Teams Are Still to Warm Up — But That Cuts Both Ways

In fairness, it’s worth acknowledging that some of the big names haven’t fully clicked yet. Geelong tend to find another gear when September comes. Sydney, when they’re on, are brutal. Carlton have the talent to be frightening on their best day.

But here’s the thing about those teams: they’re still looking for full flight. Fremantle are already there. They’re not waiting to peak — they’ve been building, consistently, all season long. The arrow isn’t pointing up hopefully; it’s been pointing up and delivering.

Teams that are “about to warm up” in finals week sometimes do, and sometimes they find out the hard way that form is form and it matters. The Dockers have the runs on the board. That’s not nothing in September.

What a Premiership Would Mean

Let me be real for a second — as a West Coast supporter, I’m not sitting here hoping Fremantle win the flag. Let’s be very clear on that point. We’re rivals. Always have been, always will be. I’ll be barracking against them the moment they line up against anyone with a pulse in finals.

But football is bigger than just your team sometimes. And a Fremantle premiership — if it happens — would be a massive moment for football over here in the west. It would mean two of the last four or five flags have come from Perth clubs. It would be an enormous statement about the talent, the football culture, and the competitive weight of this state.

It would also, not for nothing, give me something to say to every person on the east coast who still instinctively thinks of AFL as a Melbourne competition. Sometimes your rivals doing well serves a greater good.

Not that I’ll be particularly gracious about it in the days immediately after. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Verdict: Back Them — Even if It Stings

If someone asked me today to name the team most likely to lift the cup, I’d say Fremantle. The most even spread of talent in the competition. A coach who clearly has this group believing in something together. A playing style flexible enough to adapt, and a recent track record of doing exactly that, week after week.

The Dockers are the team to love, to fear, and — perhaps most importantly — to trust. They’ve met every challenge put in front of them and come out the other side looking like they expected to. That’s not luck. That’s a team ready for September.

Flagmantle. Yeah. I said it. Don’t make me say it again.