- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
A long-waited Western Derby final could be coming our way as soon as next weekend. But don’t worry, because if it doesn’t we could still witness it in week two of the finals.
There is a possibility that after this week’s final round of regular season fixtures, Fremantle could slide from fourth to fifth while West Coast rise into eighth spot.
This would occur if Fremantle lose at home to fifth-placed Port, West Coast defeat the Gold Coast on the road, eighth-placed Richmond lose to ladder leaders Sydney, and Hawthorn knock off ninth-placed Collingwood.
The second scenario involves Fremantle finishing fourth, and losing their first final away against Sydney, while West Coast finish eighth and then defeat fifth-placed Port on the road.
Either of these scenarios would ensure a beyond-blockbuster knockout final between the two West Australian sides in Perth.
Anyone who has been to a Western Derby will attest that, even when there is nothing riding on the game, they are played with a manic intensity only normally witnessed in September.
The build up to the match during the week is akin to a final, with hype growing steadily until it spills over onto Subiaco Oval on match day.
For 20 years now, WA footy fans have been hypothesising about what a derby final would look like. To AFL-mad locals, the concept is so large it is hard to even fathom.
Deforestation would go into over drive as The West Australian newspaper prepared a 500-page liftout analysing the derby final from every conceivable, and inconceivable viewpoint.
Local television stations would make history by finding a way to introduce a 25th hour of daily transmission in order to maximise their reportage of the clash.
The small segment of Perth’s population with a distaste for AFL would hastily book overseas holidays only to find that even in South-East Asia there’s always a bar playing the footy.
By now I imagine many Roarers are annoyed with me either for sensationalising this hypothetical final or for failing woefully in my efforts to be humorous.
But, as a Perth born-and-raised lad, you have to trust me on this one: it would be gargantuan. In terms of publicity it would outstrip even Fremantle’s debut grand final appearance last season.
Fremantle, both on paper and in terms of performances the past few years, are the vastly superior side. They have a battalion of A-grade players – Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Michael Barlow, Aaron Sandilands, Hayden Ballantyne, Michael Johnson, Michael Walters, Matthew Pavlich, Stephen Hill, Ryan Crowley and Luke McPharlin.
West Coast can, at a stretch, lay claim only to six – Matt Priddis, Mark LeCras, Eric Mackenzie, Shannon Hurn, Josh Kennedy and Scott Selwood.
If these sides were to clash in the finals, the Eagles would be rank underdogs. But if they did achieve the unexpected it could well cause an irreparable fracture in Perth’s community.
Of course, first of all West Coast need to back up their solid recent form by edging out Gold Coast in Queensland. The Eagles have never lost to the Suns and have the momentum.
But they have been highly unpredictable this season. Who knows what they will dish up now that it really matters.
Secondly, Port would have to upset Fremantle. This is the less likely of these two outcomes given the Dockers surging form and their remarkable recent record at home.
Despite my soft spot for Fremantle, I will be silently wishing for them to falter. The prospect of a Western Derby final is just too delectable.