Adrian Barich: Why I’m standing by my most controversial take yet, sorry Eagles supporters

You know you’re getting on your nerves when your own family starts bearing the fallout.

The other day, when I went into my living room, I ran into my son and asked: “Dad, what are you saying?”

It turned out that he was subjected to some angry comments on social media. Not because of anything he did, just because he’s my son. This is what passion for football is like.

Last week I committed what some consider a betrayal of the sport. I suggested that if West Coast were not playing in the final, Eagles fans could get behind Fremantle. The other team is from Western Australia.

You’d think I’d ask people to gnaw off their own arms. The response was extraordinary. More than 2,000 comments poured in. Judging by some of them, you’d think I personally wanted the blue and gold to be replaced with purple scarves. Mind you, I probably should have seen it coming.

Many Eagles fans were quick to remind me of something Dockers champion Nat Fyfe said ahead of the 2018 grand final when he admitted Fremantle fans would barrack for Collingwood rather than the West Coast.

Let’s say Fyfe’s comments were relayed to me. . . and nauseating. It seems football fans have long memories and don’t hesitate to hold grudges for as long as eight years.

But I still think we’re missing something here. And why I’m doubling down on what I said last week (don’t tell Tom) and this comes from an ex-Eagle who once stood in the bar on the Left Bank in East Fremantle and sang the Dockers team song after losing a derby bet.

Let’s be honest, WA is a pretty small place. We joke that Perth has “some degree of separation” and it’s true. Almost everyone knows someone who knows someone.

It is therefore not possible to separate our AFL clubs from our communities. Take a look at Fremantle’s list.

Jye Amiss grew up in Busselton. Luke Jackson arrived from East Fremantle and Willetton. Andrew Brayshaw belongs to one of WA football’s best-known families. Shai Bolton is a Mandurah product with roots in Forrestdale and Katanning. Jordan Clark’s father played for Perth. Heath Chapman came from West Perth. Justin Longmuir is WA country through and through. The O’Driscoll family is synonymous with Northam.

These are not just Freo football players. They are Western Australians. They are kids who grew up on our local football fields, played in our youth clubs and attended our schools before realizing their football dreams.

Before Eagles fans tell me I’m wearing purple-tinted glasses, let’s do some backstory. The great West Coast teams that won the championship in 1992 and 1994 were full of players from Fremantle.

John Worsfold. Glen Jakovich. Peter Sumich. Peter Matera. Some of the greatest Eagles of all time proudly call Freo home.

That’s why I’ve always believed there’s room to admire success, even if it belongs to your arch-rival.

Of course, football is tribal. My tribe is against yours. This is what makes sports so attractive. But occasionally football becomes bigger than tribalism. That’s why I wrote what I did about Fremantle.

Not because I’m secretly jumping on the Dockers bandwagon. Believe me, many Eagles fans accused me of this. I wrote this because there is something truly different about the Fremantle team.

For years the “Flagmantle” was the most common joke in football. Bring it up too early and fans will look anxiously over their shoulders, convinced that the football gods are listening.

And to be fair, this Eagles-Dockers rivalry has never been one-way traffic. There has been a lot of abuse from both sides over the decades. Some were light-hearted, some less so, but most were born out of genuine passion for our clubs.

Yes, West Coast fans were entitled to celebrate four premierships in the club’s first 40 years. This is a remarkable achievement and one that every club would envy.

And yes, many Eagles fans enjoyed that success and Dockers fans survived the pineapple hard end because their trophy case was still bare after 30 seasons.

But maybe it’s time to retire a few old favorites. The joke that Fremantle’s trophy room was broken into and only the purple carpet was stolen was a spectacular hit.

There’s also the cliché that every Eagles fan is a big chardonnay-sipping notary who thinks football started in 1987.

Neither fully reflects where these clubs are today.

So can Freo win the premiership and beat the “Eastern States”? It seems so, but final football has upset many favorites before.

Injuries happen. The form fluctuates. September is a completely different beast. But the Dockers have earned the right to be taken seriously.

Maybe that’s what upset so many people last week. Maybe it wasn’t the suggestion that Eagles fans should get behind Fremantle if West Coast aren’t playing.

Maybe it was the idea that, for the first time in a long time, “The Flag Coat” no longer felt like a silly punchline.

It seems like a real possibility. You don’t need to cheer for them. But I wouldn’t mind seeing another AFL premiership trophy make the journey across the Nullarbor. I was on the plane when the holy cup first made this journey and the plane was being sprayed with pressurized water. . . Woosha was in the cockpit with the trophy and when we landed there were thousands lining the roads all the way to Subiaco Oval. What’s not to love about that? West Australians are partying as one.

Don’t tell my son I said that.