Even a Desperate Eagles Fan Can See Freo’s Flag Window Is Real

Look, I want it on the record that writing these words caused me genuine physical discomfort, and if anyone from my Eagles Facebook group is reading this, I was hacked. But here we are: Fremantle Dockers might actually be a legitimate flag contender, and over here in the west, I think it’s time we said it out loud.

Before you call the authorities, hear me out. I’ve spent the better part of two decades watching the Dockers flirt with September glory, break hearts in two grand final appearances — one of which we don’t really talk about — and then spend years rebuilding while the east coast media cheerfully ignored both WA clubs unless it was to remind us how far we travel. So trust me when I say I’ve watched Freo closely enough to know the difference between a team that’s pretending to be good and a team that genuinely is.

The Purple Haze Is Different This Time

Every few years, Dockers fans get their hopes up and then spend September watching someone else lift the cup. It became a running joke, even a sad one. But something shifted in the last twelve to eighteen months, and I don’t think it’s a mirage. The midfield brigade is elite, the defensive structure is among the best in the competition, and — crucially — they’ve started winning the games that matter rather than just posting pretty numbers in rounds six through twelve.

Freo fans, bless them, are still hedging. You can spot it in the way they talk about their team — cautious optimism delivered in a tone that suggests they’re fully braced for heartbreak. Over here in the west, we’ve been burned enough times to know that a Perth summer of hope can turn into a Melbourne spring of sadness very quickly. Dockers fans have earned their scepticism the hard way.

But I reckon 2025 might genuinely be different, and I say that as someone who wishes nothing but confusion and poor set-shot kicking on them during derby season.

Caleb Serong and the Engine Room Question

Any serious conversation about Fremantle’s title credentials has to start in the middle. Caleb Serong is, and I’m grinding my teeth writing this, one of the best midfielders in the competition. Full stop. The bloke wins contested ball, drives forward, and does the unglamorous stuff that Brownlow voters seem to be finally noticing. When he’s fit and firing, Fremantle’s engine room goes from good to genuinely frightening.

Pair him with Andrew Brayshaw, who has quietly become an All-Australian-calibre player without ever getting the profile he’d have if he played for Collingwood or Richmond, and you’ve got a one-two punch that can match it with anyone in the competition. The east coast commentary tends to talk about these blokes like footnotes. Over here in the west, we know exactly what they’re capable of.

The supporting cast around them has also matured. Will Brodie adds run, the wing rotations give them a different shape to most teams, and head coach Justin Longmuir has clearly found a way to make the whole system hum rather than just relying on individuals to drag the side over the line.

The Defensive Wall Rowe Built

Okay this is a funny sentence for an Eagles fan to write, but Luke Ryan is a superstar of the competition. There, I said it. He locks down key forwards, reads the play like he’s watching from the coach’s box, and rarely has a bad day. When he’s at the top of his game, he makes premiership-quality opponents look ordinary.

The rest of the Freo backline has the kind of depth and flexibility you need to win finals. They’re not just relying on Ryan to do the heavy lifting. The collective effort means they can cover each other when one gets isolated, and that’s a hallmark of any seriously good defensive unit.

Compare that to what we’ve seen from flags teams in recent memory, and Fremantle’s defence stacks up. It’s not flashy. The east coast panels aren’t spending half-time segments on it. But quiet, competent, relentless defending wins premierships, and the Dockers have it.

The One Nagging Question: Can They Win Away From Home?

Now, here’s where Bluey Mainwaring is allowed to put his Eagles hat back on for a second, because this is something both WA clubs have copped forever and it doesn’t get better with age. The travel burden on Perth teams is real, relentless, and still criminally underdiscussed by the AFL.

When Fremantle has to fly to Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane for finals, they’re not just playing football — they’re playing football after enduring logistics that their eastern-corridor opponents never face. The AFL has tinkered around the edges of this for years without ever properly fixing it. Over here in the west, we don’t need a study to tell us it matters.

Freo’s record in finals played on the eastern seaboard has been… mixed, to put it politely. But this squad looks more physically and mentally equipped to handle those conditions than previous editions. The leadership group has been through enough September campaigns to not be dazzled by the MCG or the SCG. And if they can get enough home finals through the qualifying rounds, they can set themselves up beautifully for a run.

That’s the key strategic elemant: protect Optus Stadium. Win at home. Make opponents come west. Freo understand this better than most.

What the Diehard Freo Faithful Are Quietly Thinking

I’ve got mates who follow the purple and gold — yes, those friendships still exist, somehow — and the vibe has shifted. They’re not shouting it from the rooftops because, frankly, decades of disappointment have trained them not to. But behind the carefully maintained pessimism, there’s genuine belief that this group can go all the way.

They point to the depth chart, which has more quality across the board than any previous Freo side. They point to the forward line, which, while not elite week-in-week-out, has enough variety and pressure to create opportunities against any defence in the competition. And they point to the fact that this team is winning games it would have lost in previous seasons — the close ones, the ugly ones, the ones where character matters more than structure.

That’s meaningful. You can have a great game plan and still fold under pressure. The Dockers of 2025 don’t look like folders.

My Reluctant Verdict

I would genuinely prefer to spend this column talking about how the Eagles are rebuilding beautifully and will be back challenging for September footy very soon — which they are, and which they will. But a footy writer has to call it as he sees it, even when it hurts.

Fremantle are the real deal this season. Not a media construct, not a product of a soft draw, not a team that’s inflated by early-season optimism. They’re a genuine, credible, dangerous premiership contender. And if they manage to navigate finals with their midfield healthy and their backline intact, they are absolutely capable of winning a maiden flag.

The Dockers faithful have been waiting a long, long time for permission to dream. Over here in the west, even their oldest rival’s fans might have to concede: this might finally be their year.

Just don’t expect me to repeat that during derby week.