It's a two team town in the west. You have the choice (or more likely due to family heritage not given an option) to support the four-time flag winning West Coast Eagles or the perennial battlers Fremantle.
In the mid-2000s, my family was split in half by blue and gold and (at the time) purple, red, green and white, but my grandad put in the ground work early to make sure the anchor was firmly attached to my heart.
For better or for worse that's led to two decades of love and despair for myself and the Freo faithful - an adjective which cannot be disputed when it comes to this club. As my mum used to say in regards to Dockers fans, "We're proud, loyal, passionate, but stupid."
The expression "dockery" has now become part of the vernacular in Fremantle to describe the club or players' ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
But it appears a new era has begun for the west's forever little brother. With arguably its best ever list talent-wise, Fremantle appears ready to make its second proper push for a premiership in the Dockers' 32-year history.
While Fremantle as a club isn't known for its on-field success, the club has had a litany of cult heroes and stars who, although never reached the ultimate success, will never have to buy a beer or latte along High Street in Freo for the rest of their lives such is the admiration for what they gave to the club.
Some honourable mentions for the list include Lachie Neale who won multiple best-and-fairests with us before fleeing to Brisbane (bet he regrets that decision), tall and talented defender Michael Johnson, All-Australian Paul Hasleby, cult hero Shaun McManus, the original "Wiz" Jeff Farmer, and current star Andrew Brayshaw.
1Matthew Pavlich
The man who didn't want to come to Fremantle when he was drafted with pick four in 1999 remains the club's greatest player. Despite his heartbreak of being plucked from South Australia and taken to the struggling port side club in Western Australia, Pavlich immediately got to work to prove he would become one of the best in the league as he pushed himself beyond the limit in his first 2km time trial and woke up over the road from Freo's former home ground in hospital. Pavlich was like a superhero to Fremantle fans both young and old and proved he was one of the league's best by earning All-Australian selections as a key forward, key defender and midfielder - not many can make that claim in V/AFL history. Although he had to be used in different positions all around the ground to help cover the many deficiencies the club had in its early years, Pav still kicked 700 goals as a star key forward. He played 353 games, earned six AAs in total, won six best-and-fairests, was an eight-time leading goal kicker and our greatest ever captain (serving from 2007-15).
