Erasmus Stuck Solid, and Now He’s One Win Off Immortality
Righto, I’ll admit it hurts a little typing this one out given the colours involved, but fair’s fair — Neil Erasmus running out onto the MCG this weekend is one of the better stories footy’s produced in a while. A bloke who was reportedly weighing up his future twelve months ago is now one win away from a premiership medal, and you’d have to have a heart made of recycled Nic Nat headgear not to reckon that’s a ripper of a tale.
Look, I barrack for the Eagles, always have, always will, and there’s a part of me that wishes Erasmus was doing this in blue and gold instead of purple. But credit where it’s due — this is exactly the sort of story that gets buried by the footy media over east because it doesn’t fit the narrative that everything worth talking about happens within cooee of the MCG.
The Crossroad Nobody Over East Really Noticed
From what’s been reported, Erasmus had a genuine look around last year. Contract stuff, list management, all the usual footy business that clubs like to keep close to the chest. It happens every trade period — blokes test the market, agents make calls, and speculation does the rounds. Nothing sinister in it, that’s just modern footy.
What strikes me is how little airtime that got nationally compared to if it was, say, a bloke at a Victorian club thinkin’ about crossing town. Over here in the west we’re used to it — our stories get a paragraph on the bottom of the page while some fringe player at a heartland club gets a whole segment on the telly. Erasmus quietly working through a genuine career decision, and deciding footy-wise and life-wise that Fremantle was home, barely rated a mention beyond the WA press.
Why Staying Actually Meant Something
There’s a lazy take that players who stay put just didn’t have options. That’s rubbish, and anyone who’s watched list management up close knows it. If a promising young midfielder is genuinely entertaining interest from other clubs, staying is a decision, not a default. It takes buy-in to the vision, trust in the coaches, and probably a fair look in the mirror about what actually makes you happy footy-wise.
Erasmus chose the Dockers. He chose Justin Longmuir’s plan, he chose the group he’d come up through since being drafted, and he chose to back himself that the rebuild — because let’s be honest, there was a period there where Freo were building more than they were winning — would come good. Reportedly the pull of family and home played into it too, and I don’t blame him one bit. There’s no shame loving where you’re from, even if it’s the wrong side of Derby weekend for my liking.
The Travel Factor Nobody East of the Border Wants to Talk About
Can we also just acknowledge, for the thousandth time, what it actually takes for a WA club to go all the way? Every single non-Victorian away game means a five-hour flight, a body clock reset, and a hotel bed that’s never quite as good as your own. Fremantle have had to do that all season while the traditional powers get to sleep at home more often than not and still cop softer draws in the finals system half the time.
It’s the one thing that genuinely grinds my gears about how the competition’s framed nationally. A club from over here goes deep into September and somehow it’s still treated as a nice little sidebar story rather than the genuinely difficult achievement it is. Erasmus and his teammates have clocked up more air miles this year than half the commentators criticising the draw have clocked in their careers.
What Erasmus Actually Brings
Setting the sook aside for a sec, the footy talk is deserved. Erasmus has developed into exactly the sort of contested ball, inside-midfield type that finals footy chews up blokes who can’t provide. He wins it hard, he’s not afraid of a tackle, and he’s shown enough poise this finals series to suggest the head-space stuff from last year is well and truly sorted.
Grand finals have a habit of finding those players who’ve had to fight for their spot on the park, mentally as much as physically. Blokes who’ve stared down a fork in the road and come out the other side tend to play with a certain freedom — nothing left to prove to themselves, just footy to be played. If Freo are going to cause an upset on the big stage, they’ll need exactly that sort of contested edge through the guts.
Good on Him, Genuinely
As much as it pains this Eagles die-hard to say it, I hope Erasmus has the game of his life. Not for a Freo flag mind you — my loyalty only stretches so far, ha — but because stories like his are good for the game, good for young WA footballers weighing up their own futures, and good for reminding the rest of the country that not every worthwhile decision gets made in a boardroom in Melbourne.
There’s something quietly satisfying about a kid who could’ve gone looking elsewhere, decided home was worth backing, and now finds himself one game from the ultimate prize. Whatever happens on grand final day, that’s a genuinely feel-good yarn, and over here in the west we don’t get nearly enough of those getting the run they deserve.
The Bigger Picture for WA Footy
Win or lose, Fremantle in a granny is massive for the state. It’s a reminder that both our clubs can go toe to toe with anyone when things click, travel schedule and all. Selfishly I’d love it to be us walking out there instead, and there’s every chance next year it will be — but I’m not too proud to tip my cap to a Docker doing it the hard way.
Just don’t expect me to be cheering too loud on the day. A bloke’s got standards.
