Western Derby 62: The big questions answered ahead of massive clash between West Coast and Fremantle

The West Australian’s Mitchell Woodcock and Josh Kempton have broken down the big questions ahead of the 62nd edition of the western derby between West Coast and Fremantle on Sunday. What’s the storyline going in? Mitchell Woodcock Can the young Eagles stand up on the big stage? There are likely to be several players including Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler, Josh Lindsay and Milan Murdock who have never played in a western derby before. And many more who have never won one. No matter what anyone says, these games are bigger than a regular season match. The whole state stops to watch and the stadium is near capacity. As the home side, the sound if they hit the front will be louder than anything some of them have ever experienced. Conversely, should they be on the end of a belting, the silence will be just as noticeable. How do the young Eagles cope with arguably their biggest game of the year? We will find out this Sunday. Josh Kempton Are Fremantle mature enough to dodge a potential banana skin? To borrow an adjective coined by some of the club’s most tragic supporters, starting the season in a fashion suggesting you are among the competition’s best sides before dropping a game against last year’s wooden spooners could only be described as ‘Dockery’. But the evidence this group of players will be the ones to quash that unfortunate reputation is beginning to stack up. Since being stunned in the first derby of 2024, Justin Longmuir’s side have hardly given West Coast a look-in throughout the three since. The Eagles will not be short of motivation in one of their two biggest games for the year, but if Justin Longmuir’s side are to establish themselves as a genuine premiership contender, these are the sort of games they need to win and win well. The player that will make the difference ELLIOT YEO It has to be veteran Elliot Yeo. There are few players at the Eagles who have played in as many big games as the dual All-Australian. And his absence in recent weeks has been more than noticeable for a multitude of reasons. Should Fremantle come out and flex their muscles, Yeo needs to be the one to stand up. Should they try to bully Harley Reid, Yeo needs to stand in. Should they get the momentum, Yeo is likely the man who will perform the selfless act. Right now, it is only when the talismanic midfielder is in the team do they look capable of winning a game. And they need him more than ever in this match. MURPHY REID Murphy Reid’s stunning start to his second season after winning the AFL Rising Star award in his first has further emboldened a vocal group of Fremantle fans who believe he is a better player than his cross-town namesake and are not afraid to invoke the comparison. Reid’s vision and the quality of his ball use means he does not need to find as much of the football as others to have a huge impact on a game. He is completely capable of ripping a derby apart in only a handful of moments. The 19-year-old already has a penchant for performing when the lights are at their brightest — last year’s two derbies were among his best performances in level — and it would be bold to bet against him further enhancing his reputation as a big-game player on the weekend. Who needs a big derby? BAILEY WILLIAMS Bailey Williams and who ever rucks alongside him. Should Fremantle go with Luke Jackson and recruit Mason Cox then it is going to be extremely tough for West Coast at the clearances. The Dockers are going to have the bigger and better midfield. If the Eagles are going to be any chance they must ensure they don’t have it all their own way. West Coast have struggled in the ruck since Nic Naitanui retired nearly three years ago and if they get dominated in there against the Dockers, expect them to struggle to stop Fremantle from scoring. West Coast’s defence cannot be put under similar pressure to what we’ve seen in recent weeks against Geelong and Sydney. If the Eagles go with Williams and recall Matt Flynn, both have to have their best games of the season to date and stand up for their younger Eagles. HAYDEN YOUNG Putting the spotlight on Hayden Young as he makes his way back from a hamstring injury may be harsh, but it is approaching sink-or-swim time for the classy lefty-footer. Young was on return from a near three-month injury-enforced stint on the sidelines in the most recent derby but still managed to come away with the Glendinning-Allan Medal, polling eight of a possible nine votes despite being substituted out of the game early to help manage his minutes. Fremantle’s strong start to the season means Young should be allowed the luxury to find his feet at his own pace and has spared him the pressure of being cast as the saviour. That may be just what he needs to quickly get back to his best. The trend I’ve got an eye on Eagles must bring the heat West Coast have made several small improvements already this year, but their biggest struggle has been stopping teams from scoring. Already this year they’re averaging 120 points against a game — last in the competition. This is up from 106 points last season. There are multiple reasons for this. But arguably the main has been the lack of pressure. In the last four weeks their pressure rating has been at an AFL low of 171, while they’ve conceded 186. West Coast are in danger of conceding a big score against a new, higher-scoring Dockers outfit who kicked 100 points or more in their first three games. Their past two weeks have not been as impressive, but conditions and opposition have been a factor in that. If West Coast do not up their pressure, Fremantle’s star forward line is capable of piling on a lot of pain. West Coast must bring the pressure from the first bounce and sustain it for four quarters. The trend I’ve got an eye on Freo’s growing percentage Last year, Fremantle were behind the eight-ball with their percentage all season long, which added significant stress to the final weeks of their eventually-successful finals push. But big wins over Melbourne and Richmond in the early stages of 2026 have left them as the league’s third-best side in the metric after the first six games of the new season, behind only Sydney and Gold Coast. The Swans and the Suns both gave their percentage a big boost by thumping the Eagles and the Dockers should be aiming to do the same in order to help ensure they are well and truly ensconced inside the top six as September draws nearer. What’s a pass mark? For West Coast... The line for the game is 42.5 points which is about where West Coastshould be aiming to be within. The Eagles won’t want to lose each of the quarters by two goals and most importantly they won’t want to concede consecutive goals on mass at any period of the game. A win is always possible, but this is a very young West Coast outfit against a fit, firing and powerful Fremantle team that are hunting for a top four spot. So it is going to be tough. West Coast need to show signs of improvement and cannot have anything that replicates the disastrous smashing at the hands of Sydney from less than a fortnight ago. Win a quarter and keep it under a 10 goal defeat and there should be some satisfied fans. Be in the game until at least late in the contest and there will be some rejuvenated confidence amongst the supporter base. For Fremantle... As a flag aspirant up against last year’s wooden spooner, Fremantle should be aiming to win the derby by five goals at an absolute minimum. That almost goes without saying. How they win will be as important as the margin. In their season-opening clash with the Eagles, Gold Coast powered to a lead which stood a smidge over 10 goals at half-time. West Coast produced an improved effort in the third and fourth terms, but the Suns were never seriously threatened and remained in cruise control until the final siren sounded. Sunday playing out in that ilk would be perfect for the Dockers. Doing enough of their work early to ensure a healthy margin should be the priority, and if that allows them to to ease off in the latter stages, that’s even better.