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Dockers sink boot into cosy Eagles' nest
By John McGrath
REMEMBER the 1992 grand final? It was the day when West Coast turned football in Victoria on its head by stealing the AFL premiership cup.
Back in Perth, the place was like a ghost town as a massive television audience cheered the Eagles home against Geelong.
You could have fired a cannon down any street between noon and 3pm and wouldn't have hit a single person who had the slightest interest in footy.
It was a time when the majority of West Australians followed the same team.
Now we have two teams. Fremantle has joined the competition and is on the verge of becoming a force. The Eagles no longer have it on their own. They might still have a bigger following than the Dockers, but the gap is narrowing.
The whole State has been divided by two football teams, as we have seen in the lead-up to tonight's sell-out western derby at Subiaco Oval.
WA footy has returned to something like the tribalism we once enjoyed when the WAFL was our No. 1 competition.
The only difference is that the Eagles don't really have a place they can be identified with. If the Dockers win a flag, they can hang it from Fremantle town hall. Where do the Eagles hang theirs?
Fremantle is portrayed as the blue-collar club while the Eagles are the chardonnay set.
But I know a lot of Dockers' supporters who have a four-wheel-drive in the garage and live in flash houses north of the river. And the Eagles still have a strong following throughout the Fremantle area.
That's the great irony in this whole footy debate: West Coast used to have a big following among Fremantle people.
It was due in no small way to the number of champion players from South Fremantle and East Fremantle who were recruited to the club. That 92 West Coast premiership team included John Worsfold, Glen Jakovich, Peter Matera and Peter Sumich, from South, and Michael Brennan, Chris Waterman, Chris Mainwaring, Paul Harding and Peter Wilson, from Easts.
When the Dockers came along, those Eagles' supporters living in Fremantle had to make a decision. Many jumped on board the new team. Some stayed loyal to the Eagles.
People around the State with roots to Fremantle have also got behind the Dockers. Others support them because of the tall poppy syndrome and the underdog tag the Dockers carry.
Still, there is no doubt Fremantle supporters have added a new dimension to football barracking in this State. They are passionate, noisy and fiercely parochial. That, of course, has been brought about by years of struggle.
The Eagles had been in the competition only six years when they won the first of their two premierships. In the 1990s, they played in 10 successive finals series.
Fremantle has been around since 1995 and, until this year, had never finished higher than 12th.
West Coast supporters are passionate, too, but it seems to be more measured. They don't turn up at training sessions in numbers like Dockers' fans or show the same public support for their team. Mick Malthouse can take some of the blame for that.
MALTHOUSE is a fine coach. But while in the West, he lived with a constant fear that public expectation could ruin his grand plan for the team. It was almost as if he didn't want the fans getting too close. They were regularly locked out of training sessions.
In 1991, radio station 96fm was left with 40,000 Craig Turley masks on its hands after Malthouse canned the idea for fans to wear them in a final against Hawthorn at Subiaco Oval.
Many Fremantle supporters say they are sick of being patronised by Eagles' fans.
The Freo MOB is an influential supporter group which includes crayfishermen, truckies and lawyers. Recently TV presenter and former West Coast player Adrian Barich was left in no doubt where he stood with the MOB. When Barich asked whether he could attend a function planned to watch a Dockers' away game on a big screen, he was told: "You can come but we can't guarantee you'll be welcomed by everyone here."
Tonight the MOB will hold a function for about 500 Dockers' supporters who couldn't get tickets to the derby. The night has been declared an "Eagles-free zone".
Fremantle followers are also active on the internet, with Dockerland.com being a site where nothing is sacrosanct. The Eagles are regularly lampooned as "Wet-Toast" or "E-Girls".
One contributor to Dockerland.com, unhappy about not getting tickets to the derby, threatens to get his 1985 Mitsubishi Colt out of the garage for a run around Subiaco tomorrow.
He says the plan is to cover the car in Fremantle colours and honk at "Wet-Toast" supporters driving their four-wheel-drives to the game.
Now that's passion.
August 30, 2003
http://www.thewest.com.au/20030902/features/tw-features-home-sto110752.html
By John McGrath
REMEMBER the 1992 grand final? It was the day when West Coast turned football in Victoria on its head by stealing the AFL premiership cup.
Back in Perth, the place was like a ghost town as a massive television audience cheered the Eagles home against Geelong.
You could have fired a cannon down any street between noon and 3pm and wouldn't have hit a single person who had the slightest interest in footy.
It was a time when the majority of West Australians followed the same team.
Now we have two teams. Fremantle has joined the competition and is on the verge of becoming a force. The Eagles no longer have it on their own. They might still have a bigger following than the Dockers, but the gap is narrowing.
The whole State has been divided by two football teams, as we have seen in the lead-up to tonight's sell-out western derby at Subiaco Oval.
WA footy has returned to something like the tribalism we once enjoyed when the WAFL was our No. 1 competition.
The only difference is that the Eagles don't really have a place they can be identified with. If the Dockers win a flag, they can hang it from Fremantle town hall. Where do the Eagles hang theirs?
Fremantle is portrayed as the blue-collar club while the Eagles are the chardonnay set.
But I know a lot of Dockers' supporters who have a four-wheel-drive in the garage and live in flash houses north of the river. And the Eagles still have a strong following throughout the Fremantle area.
That's the great irony in this whole footy debate: West Coast used to have a big following among Fremantle people.
It was due in no small way to the number of champion players from South Fremantle and East Fremantle who were recruited to the club. That 92 West Coast premiership team included John Worsfold, Glen Jakovich, Peter Matera and Peter Sumich, from South, and Michael Brennan, Chris Waterman, Chris Mainwaring, Paul Harding and Peter Wilson, from Easts.
When the Dockers came along, those Eagles' supporters living in Fremantle had to make a decision. Many jumped on board the new team. Some stayed loyal to the Eagles.
People around the State with roots to Fremantle have also got behind the Dockers. Others support them because of the tall poppy syndrome and the underdog tag the Dockers carry.
Still, there is no doubt Fremantle supporters have added a new dimension to football barracking in this State. They are passionate, noisy and fiercely parochial. That, of course, has been brought about by years of struggle.
The Eagles had been in the competition only six years when they won the first of their two premierships. In the 1990s, they played in 10 successive finals series.
Fremantle has been around since 1995 and, until this year, had never finished higher than 12th.
West Coast supporters are passionate, too, but it seems to be more measured. They don't turn up at training sessions in numbers like Dockers' fans or show the same public support for their team. Mick Malthouse can take some of the blame for that.
MALTHOUSE is a fine coach. But while in the West, he lived with a constant fear that public expectation could ruin his grand plan for the team. It was almost as if he didn't want the fans getting too close. They were regularly locked out of training sessions.
In 1991, radio station 96fm was left with 40,000 Craig Turley masks on its hands after Malthouse canned the idea for fans to wear them in a final against Hawthorn at Subiaco Oval.
Many Fremantle supporters say they are sick of being patronised by Eagles' fans.
The Freo MOB is an influential supporter group which includes crayfishermen, truckies and lawyers. Recently TV presenter and former West Coast player Adrian Barich was left in no doubt where he stood with the MOB. When Barich asked whether he could attend a function planned to watch a Dockers' away game on a big screen, he was told: "You can come but we can't guarantee you'll be welcomed by everyone here."
Tonight the MOB will hold a function for about 500 Dockers' supporters who couldn't get tickets to the derby. The night has been declared an "Eagles-free zone".
Fremantle followers are also active on the internet, with Dockerland.com being a site where nothing is sacrosanct. The Eagles are regularly lampooned as "Wet-Toast" or "E-Girls".
One contributor to Dockerland.com, unhappy about not getting tickets to the derby, threatens to get his 1985 Mitsubishi Colt out of the garage for a run around Subiaco tomorrow.
He says the plan is to cover the car in Fremantle colours and honk at "Wet-Toast" supporters driving their four-wheel-drives to the game.
Now that's passion.
August 30, 2003
http://www.thewest.com.au/20030902/features/tw-features-home-sto110752.html
