For so long an underdog, front-running Freo ready to claim first flag

Football fans unite in glory, but the bonds of fandom are often forged in failure.

It is fair to say that Fremantle fans have suffered more than most since their club's entry to the AFL. It's also fair to say that, as a result, Dockers fans are some of the most passionate and dedicated in the league. It's why something like Wharfie Time is endearing instead of cheesy. The Purple Army is something to believe in.

The Fremantle experience has often been one of struggle. Struggling against the bigger brother in blue and yellow. Struggling against the tyranny of distance in a league based on the other side of the continent. Struggling against the weight of its own history.

The anchor is sometimes less a motif of their moniker and instead a weight tethering their expectations.

But this year everything seems different. This year Fremantle has led from the front, often without looking back.

Even as the pack came for the Dockers, they didn't fold under the pressure. Instead, they buckled down and somehow got better.

"The way to win premierships is to win games of footy, and you win games of footy by winning more moments than the opposition," Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir explained last week.

"So we all know what's on the line, but we've just got to make sure that we give our best at each moment, and the next moment's the most important one."

The Dockers showed a resilience often only attached to the best of teams. It's also one baked into the identity of their side.

Fremantle aren't just stocked with high-draft picks. The Dockers are also filled with players overlooked and discarded by others. Almost half of the side that will run out on Saturday fits into those categories, with a few rookies to boot. If these players had given up at the first rejection, they wouldn't be in the league.

More pertinently, Fremantle wouldn't be in the big dance without many of these names.

If Fremantle's fandom and side are somewhat unconventional, its success on the field is anything but. Like many successful teams of years' past, they have been built on a solid defensive base, with enough star power to shine through when needed. Like many great teams, they are more than the sum of their parts.

Like many great teams, they play their best footy when it matters most. Last week, Fremantle put together arguably the best quarter of its season to make the grand final.

"We played our best footy in the last quarter when everything was against us … I'm just so proud of everyone," captain Alex Pearce said in the immediate wake of last week's victory.

Thirteen years after their first grand final, the Dockers finally seem primed to break their premiership drought. In their way stands a side featuring the only remaining Fremantle player from that 2013 loss: Lachie Neale.

Strength in defence

Often the leaders of a side dictate the identity and style of a side.

Led ably by captain and All-Australian Alex Pearce, Fremantle's backline may not be as star-studded as other defensive units around the league, but it is as sturdy as any. They scramble, hustle and fight through all four quarters. Regularly through the year teams fell away as the Dockers held strong.

The Dockers have had the league's most consistently good defence across all facets of the game. Some backlines drop their heads when the tide starts to turn — not Fremantle.

Fremantle excels at defending before danger begins. Its midfield works hard to prevent clean exits from stoppages and contests around the ground. Although the Dockers don't have the best clearance differential or ability to win ground balls in the mid-arc, they are exceptional at preventing opposition teams from scoring from these sources.

When they lose possession in their front half, the Dockers stay eager to get the ball in their hands. They are the best side in the league at winning the ball back in the middle third of the ground.

If the ball does end up inside their defensive 50, no side is better at repelling opposition forwards. Miserly is an understatement about how Fremantle defends. It is the biggest reason that the Dockers are still alive in season 2026.

When they win the ball back, they can turn on the jets and blow opposition sides away.

The cherry on top

Few fans turn up to the footy for stout defence. It's the action at the other end that hypnotises.

Despite their defensive DNA, Freo are not lacking for weapons of their own. They turn defence into attack at the drop of a hat thanks to a plethora of creative players.

Fremantle can put on a show like few others when everything is firing, possessing the ability to pile goal after goal on the scoreboard. While their defence is often understated, their attack is anything but.

Few players generate more highlights than Shai Bolton, with the former Mark of the Year winner routinely getting Purple fans off the edge of their seats. Bolton isn't alone however.

The Dockers side is stocked with players that use the ball well.

Murphy Reid has quickly cemented himself as an attacking line breaker, while Caleb Serong, Jordan Clark and Corey Wagner gain ground with ease.

Luke Jackson also proves a challenge for any opponent as the most capable ruck at ground level in the league. Jackson has the most score involvements of any ruck this year.

The Dockers often attack in straight lines, and use the tallest timber in the league to their advantage.

But when sides like Sydney take those avenues away, Fremantle doesn't shy away from changing angles of attack and look laterally as well.

That ability to win aerial contests has another benefit. It tends to encourage opposition players to fly more often than they should, leaving Fremantle with an outnumber at ground level. That allows even more room for the ground gang to work in.

Up forward, the Dockers can beat you in any number of ways. The likes of Hye Amiss, Patrick Voss and Josh Treacy can take clunks and convert them into sure scores. At ground level, Michael Frederick, Isaiah Dudley and Shai Bolton regularly hit the scoreboard and strike fear into the hearts of opposition small defenders.

Their big men love a bomb from the top of the arc, but Freo don't tend to score a lot from out wide. That makes Hayden Young's preliminary final heroics all the more notable.

Perhaps Fremantle's biggest strength is their evenness across the board. Against Hawthorn it wasn't just the stars like Bolton and Luke Jackson that stood up late, but also players like Judd McVee and Frederick. It is clear that there's belief in this team, and dedication to a united cause.

The Final Challenge

Although Fremantle has been the best side across the year, it isn't coming into the grand final at the peak of its mid-season powers. The Dockers have won just three quarters in their three finals so far — a feat no other team has achieved before.

The Dockers have struggled late in the year when the ball has hit the deck against good sides, and some of the best midfields have overwhelmed their attacking midfield unit. These may sound like minor issues, but to win a grand final against the two-time defending champions, everything has to be on point.

But the Lions are a side that the Dockers have vanquished through the year. In round 12, the Dockers eased to a 25-point win in one of their most impressive wins of the year. The Dockers absorbed the Lions' clearance dominance while preventing them from getting the upper hand in the marking battle. Fremantle worked out a way to penetrate the Lions' whole ground defence, scoring a massive 52 points from their defensive half.

But it was also a Brisbane side that Longmuir acknowledged wasn't at their best coming into the game.

"We felt like there were some opportunities there. You know, Fages [Lions coach Chris Fagan] would come in here and say they're not in the greatest form," he said.

"I just don't want to be disrespectful with that because they've been in the last three grand finals."

Longmuir and Fagan both know that premierships aren't won in May. The early season Lions are vastly different to the side that Fremantle has to beat in the grand final.

But there's hope in the West that the result will be the same and that the Dockers three-decade drought will be over.