Keys
Looking for a cloud to yell at
- Moderator
- #1
The fiercest rivalry in WA footy and if you believe the WA based media, the biggest rivalry in the AFL. Plenty of eagles and dockers fans would agree. I used to
But in reality, it isn’t. Beyond the WA border it doesn’t generate much interest, certainly less than the SA showdown. Even after 28 years many over east still can’t even pronounce derby correctly.
And when you try to conjure up truly memorable derbies from the 56 that have been played, there aren’t really that many
So why might that be? The fans genuinely don’t get along
One answer might be that there aren’t many close games. Just 5 of the 56 derbies have been decided by less than a goal. Another 9 by less than 3 goals making a total of 14 (25%) than could be considered narrow margins. By comparison 23 of 54 showdowns have a margin less than 3 goal. The H2H record in showdowns is also a lot tighter at 27 all
Over half (32) have been decided by 5 goals or more. West Coast have an average winning margin of 38 points. For Fremantle it’s a less impressive 28 points.
But when you look at it closely, the overwhelming answer is that, basically, Freo are s**t
Consider the following, since 1995 :
Premierships : WCE 2, FD 0
Grand Finals : WCE 4, FD 1
Finals : WCE 19, FD 8
Bottom 4 : WCE 5, FD 9
Aside from unadulterated gloating, there’s also a point to the above.
West Coast and Fremantle are more often than not at opposite stages in their build.
Of the 28 completed seasons, the two WA sides have only both made finals 4 times. They’ve both missed finals 6 times including this year.
When the sides have been relatively even the H2H record is 7-12 Fremantle’s way
It’s the other 19 seasons that underlines the reason why the rivalry isn’t what it might be.
When West Coast have made finals whilst Fremantle watch (15 times), the H2H record is 25-4. It’s even more stark in years when we watch Freo in the finals - 0 from 8 in derbies on those 4 occasions
In essence, it’s a myth that ladder position don’t count in derbies. When one side is better, they win and because we’ve mostly been better, we mostly win. Hence our 32-24 lead
Another curiosity is that apart from a stretch from 1999-2007, wins have come in streaks. Fremantle are currently on a 4 game streak after they broke a stretch of 11 Eagles wins. Before that Freo had won 13 of 16 from 2007-15 (when we missed finals 5 times) to get within one game of levelling the H2H - 21-20 was as close as they got
So onto this weeks game, does anyone even care. You probably haven’t even noticed that up till now this OP is a direct copy of the round 3 preview (adjusted for the result of that game)
Freo aren’t making finals and we’re torn between beating them or keeping a Harley
And hoping that we don’t lose half our team before half time again
Danger game
Eagles by 40. Hewett to get the Rising Star nomination
Freo fans to gloat that they cost us Harley Reid whilst failing to realise that the draft pick they traded to Melbourne for Jackson will lead to them securing Reid when they trade up. Freo Forever Failing
