They are the “dicker Dockers” no more! Yesterday the Fremantle Dockers played their cross-town arch rivals, the West Coast Eagles, in Perth – and thrashed them by 57 points! To make the victory even sweeter, the Dockers notched up a few more records:
- First time to beat the Eagles in a derby twice in the one year (there are only two derbies each year, so bragging rights are pretty important)
- Eighth win in a row!
- Third on the AFL premiership ladder with only one game of the season to go
- Beat ladder-leaders West Coast against a West Coast home crowd of 43,000 (about 3,000 of whom were Dockers members – the lucky ones who could get tickets!)
- Definitely in the Finals, and if they win their last game against Port Adelaide this coming weekend, they will get two stabs at the Finals and maintain their third position in the minor premiership.
Who’d have thought it only a few weeks ago? At the end of Round 13, they were sitting at 6 wins and 7 losses, and their season was looking dire. No-one’s quite sure what happened. But somewhere in the last 2 months, the Dockers grew up. And now, despite all the pundits writing them off for so many years, they seem to have gained some respect. Sitting at 3rd on the ladder with one game to go will do that…
If the Dockers win against Port Adelaide at home next week, and if West Coast win, and if Adelaide (2nd on the ladder) win, the Dockers will maintain 3rd position and will therefore play Adelaide in Adelaide the first week of the Finals (Sept 9 weekend). Lots of ifs… and a few games to go.
Who’d have thought that there is now a chance of the Dockers making the Grand Final in only their second Finals appearance? Both Adelaide and West Coast had 15 or more Finals appearances before they won a Grand Final, so the odds aren’t good mathematically. But we can only dream…
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 
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