Neither Fremantle nor West Coast are under any illusions over what to expect from each other in Friday night’s western derby.
The ladder-leading Dockers are bracing to deal with some extra physical attention, while the up-and-coming Eagles are looking forward to confronting the challenge of a “hostile” Optus Stadium crowd which will be draped almost entirely in purple.
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter opened the derby week hostilities after his side’s loss to Brisbane on Saturday.
Following his side’s credible defeat at the hands of the back-to-back reigning premiers, McQualter declared his side would be out for a “scalp” against the ladder-leading Dockers, who have won nine of the last 10 derbies.
The remark did not escape the attention of McQualter’s Fremantle counterpart Justin Longmuir, whose side have hosting rights for the game.
“They have already said that they want to come out and take a scalp, so we’ve read that into their mindset,” Longmuir said on Tuesday.
And while players from both sides have been keen to play plenty of reverence to their opposition throughout the week, an undercurrent of dislike has not been difficult to detect.
Last weekend, the Dockers fielded a team featuring 14 players recruited from outside of Western Australia, while West Coast lined up with 13 non-Sandgropers.
Those players were not raised with the hatred that the derby can invoke at front of mind, but it has not taken long for it to become apparent.
Breakout Fremantle defender Karl Worner, who was drafted out of Victoria in 2022, said the enormity of the rivalry had dawned on him quickly.
“When I came over here to Western Australia, I didn’t really understand the hatred too much. As I started playing, it built within me,” Worner told 6PR.
“With every team, we expect we’re going to be targeted.
“We know they’ve always brought their best against us . . . we know derbies can be pretty fiery, so I’m sure they want to take it to us.”
The two sides will also feature plenty of West Australians who grew up barracking for the two clubs — including some who will pull on colours they once despised. Fremantle’s star half-back Jordan Clark was a childhood West Coast supporter, while Eagles legend Elliot Yeo’s early loyalties were purple.
West Coast defender Brady Hough, who now plays for the club he spent his childhood in Harvey in the State’s South West idolising, said the derby always created some extra “buzz” around the club in the week leading in.
“It’s exciting. Every derby’s always a massive game,” Hough said.
“It’s going to be their home game, so a hostile crowd, but we’ll embrace that challenge.
“The crowd will be loud, and hopefully we can feed off that. I’m excited.
“It’s definitely different, but it’s obviously our home deck as well, so we know how to play it. We love getting out there.
“Hopefully, some Eagles fans can turn out, that would be nice.”
Hough’s back-line teammate Brandon Starcevich is set to line up in his first derby after missing the clash between the sides in round six due to a calf injury.
When asked what sort of atmosphere he was expecting the Purple Haze to bring, the off-season recruit also plumped for the word “hostile”.
“They’re going really well and in some good form, so no doubt, there’ll be hardly a spare seat in the house,” Starcevich told 6PR.
“We’re really looking forward to the challenge.”
No current Eagle has lined up in more derbies than Yeo, who is set to confront Fremantle for the 18th time in his career.
And the 32-year-old veteran is confident his side will be able to continue their recent trend of challenging the competition’s very best sides.
“If we can bring a four-quarter performance and continue to just fight like hell, it’s going to be a good, interesting game,” Yeo told 96FM.
Longmuir said McQualter’s “scalp” comment would be addressed with his team, which Fremantle ruckman Mason Cox confirmed on Tuesday.
“We’re aware of it, but I don’t think it really changes the way we want to play,” Cox told Mix 94.5.
“We’re pretty confident in the way our game-plan is going. We’ll continue on with that and what will be will be.”
As he has throughout his three seasons with the Dockers, Pat Voss has found himself in the middle of several scraps throughout the year.
He is expecting plenty more fiery moments from both sides on Friday night.
“You always expect that in a derby,” Voss told Triple M.
“It’s definitely not a normal game, we know that for sure.”
McQualter could barely hide his enthusiasm for what will be his fourth derby only minutes after the Eagles’ game against Brisbane. When asked if his side was looking forward to the second derby of the year, he replied: “We can’t wait.”
“We absolutely look forward to it. Six days can’t come fast enough,” he said after the 24-point defeat to the Lions at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
“At the moment we’re loving challenging ourselves against the best teams in the competition.
“We’re trying to get a scalp, so our aim is we’ll scout, we’ll do all the work on Freo. They’ve obviously had a good year so far, but we’re going to try to beat them.”
Longmuir said being targeted by every other side in the competition — including the Eagles — was a challenge the Dockers would need to embrace.
“You don’t sneak under anyone’s radar when you’re where we are on the ladder. So we spoke about that and spoke about the need to make sure we match teams, especially early,” Longmuir said.
“We need to understand that teams are going to be really physical against us and not give us what we want, so there’s nothing wrong with making it a scrap at times. We’ve just got to embrace that part of the game.”
Only one western derby has ever been played on a Friday night — the 22nd edition of the contest in August 2005.
Having broken their crowd record for a non-derby home and away game when 55,201 fans piled into Optus Stadium for their win over Geelong last month, Fremantle will be eyeing off setting what would be a new mark, outside the spotlight of the finals.
