AFL grand final: Live coverage of Fremantle Dockers’ Thursday as club ramps up preparations for decider

This morning saw the eight starters confirmed for the half-time grand final sprint - and Eagles young gun Willem Duursma is among them.

Duursma is looking to become the first West Coast player to win (not counting 2021, when it was solely Eagles and Dockers players at Optus Stadium due to COVID travel restrictions) and the first No.1 draft pick to win since Brett Deledio all the way back in 2005.

Kylie Forrester from Perth is a Hawthorn fan but is now supporting the Dockers.

She spent Thursday morning buying merchandise at the AFL Footy Festival including a giant hat.

“I’m from WA and they’re going for their first which will be wonderful. My partner Tyler goes for Brisbane and it would be their third in a row, so it’s a win-win for us really,” she said.

Forrester’s partner wasn’t an impressed by her decision or her hat.

“We’ve had a few arguments about it, but happy wife, happy life,” he laughed.

The nation’s two major air carriers Qantas and Virgin combining to put on 24 extra flights between Perth and Melbourne this week meant there was plenty of activity at Perth Airport on Wednesday morning.

And while Fremantle fans spoken to by The West Australian bemoaned the cost of getting to the MCG, they said it was no obstacle in their mission to see the club’s second-ever grand final appearance.

“(I would pay) everything and anything to get to this game with the kids,” Jody Crothers said.

Peter Baker added: “I got stung fairly badly. I couldn’t get business class, but at least we’re on a plane.”

Some supporters had opted to book their trips out of hope, which had paid off in spades.

“I took the punt about three-and-a-half months ago, with a double-legger via Sydney, but I had to do it,” Dylan Hindle said.

“It wasn’t that cheap, but it’s worth it, worth every penny. If I had to pay more, I would do it, because you don’t know when it’s going to happen again.”

“We booked in June. Because we’re priority one members, we were guaranteed a ticket,” Leanne Baker said.

“We got a really good package, because we booked in June, good seats.”

Former Fremantle recruiter Brent Dawkins flew to Melbourne via Adelaide on Tuesday with his 18-year-old son Jaxon.

He helped to put together the 2013 grand final squad and said he can’t wait to see this team create history.

“It doesn’t feel like 13 years since the last one but you never know when you’ll get back to another one. When you work or play for a club, there will always be a piece of the club in you and I am really looking forward to the game,” he said.

“I’ll be catching up with a few of the guys. I’ve had a few guys reach out who I haven’t heard from in a while, like Adam McPhee. There’s a lot of people coming over. There seems to be a lot more Fremantle people here than Brisbane in the crowd. People seem to have come whether they’ve got a ticket or not.”

When The West Australian spoke to Fremantle fans beginning their trip to Melbourne to see the club’s second-ever grand final appearance, there was one common theme - excitement.

“I bleed purple. There will be tears at the end of the game, either way,” Jody Crothers said at Perth Airport on Wednesday morning.

“I booked last week, just in hope, with the cancellation just in case. I almost cancelled in the third quarter on Friday, but they got us through.”

Dylan Hindle added: ”It’s exciting, and it’s also incredibly nerve-wracking - a bit more nerve-wracking, having seen the weather forecast, but very exciting.”

Just about every Dockers diehard was wearing plenty of purple, including Graham Downs.

“I’ve got the Shauny Mac hat, signed by him, got my scarf, I’ve even got my undies on,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, the fans were unanimous in their consensus Fremantle would win the game and claim their first-ever premiership - and one was even happy to stick the boot into their cross-town rivals West Coast.

“I’m going (with a margin of) 20, with the good Reid getting the Norm Smith,” Peter Baker said.

We knew about Shaun McManus for Freo... but it’s now been confirmed that Simon Black will be Brisbane’s premiership cup presenter should the Lions salute.

Black was of course an integral part of the team that won a hat-trick of flags across 2001-03, including winning the Norm Smith in that latter year.

He won the 2002 Brownlow Medal, was a three-time All-Australian, and played a whopping 322 games at the Lions.

An amazing fact is that McManus and Black are not only both East Fremantle products, but also attended the same school: Corpus Christi College in Bateman.

There’s no shortage of purple on planes flying out of Perth today!

Among the travelling crew is Triple M’s Xav and Katie. It’s 18 years to the week since Xavier Ellis earned a premiership medal, and now, he’ll be watching first-hand as Dockers players try to do the same.

They hit a bit of a mechanical snag in South Australia on Wednesday... but the bus has arrived in Melbourne!

Hayden Ballantyne - the man who provided Freo’s first-ever score in a grand final back in 2013 - is on the ground at the home of footy.

How’s this from a crafty Dockers fan at Melbourne’s Flagstaff Station?

Elsewhere around the Victorian capital, the Footy Fest is starting to ramp up outside the MCG.

The Dockers appear a relaxed bunch as they fly out of Perth.

They’re going over two days before game day - their regular travel routine - in contrast to Brisbane, who arrived in Melbourne yesterday afternoon.