Sometimes they’re derbies, sometimes they’re simply leg stretching, workload management periods. Time to Restump Podcast what was arguably the most mundane Western Derby in history.

Inevitability is the thief of suspense. Has there been less excitement to the build up to a Western Derby? Unsurprisingly the lack of hype and interest for the game met expectations. There was no pulse, not a moment of angst as it all felt a bit soulless.

No Optus Stadium fire hydrants need replacing because there wasn’t a single spot fire on the day. Derby greats of yesteryear from both teams would be shaking their head in disappointment, bewildered about what the Derbies have become.

Is it a sign of the times, where the “It isn’t a good look” folk have too much influence? Are the finger wagging purists in charge, frowning upon anyone who colours outside the line? Are the players prioritising earning capacity over the love of the jumper?

Or is it simply the West Coast Eagles are so dreadfully uncompetitive, they’ve sucked all the derby fun out of existence? While the smart money is on the latter, it was still played in far too good a spirit.

I simply can’t recall ever having these thoughts regarding a derby ever and I have seen every single one.

From our purple perspective it was pleasing to see Jye Amiss get on the end of a handful of goals. A day out indeed, but he probably left a couple more out there. Is he back on track? His recent games have shown promise, but we reserve full judgment as you can’t assess accurately against that non-existent pressure.

Murphy Reid is going the right way to get himself a hard tag each week going forward. If Murph was playing for Freo in the early modern period in the 16th century and delivered the same sorcery he is today, he’d have been burned at the stake!

Josh Treacy and Andy Brayshaw both took the opportunity to let the foot off the pedal as their usual hundred miles an hour input just simply wasn’t necessary.

Jordan Clark was awarded the Rosco Allan medal but… really? We’re not talking about or taking any notice of accolades for anything against that abysmal Eagles outfit. To be fair, the West Coast fans should have all gotten medals for sitting through and watching that tripe their team served up!

All in all, it was a difficult watch in terms of enthusiasm. However, the overriding positive is we’re 5 and 1 after 6 rounds and sitting second behind the Swans on percentage. That’s something to get excited about.

Not much more we can say about western derby 62, but whatever can be said, we’ll save it and say it on the pod. So, if you’re ready to throw away another good hour of your life after the hours we all lost yesterday, bring your ears, rulers, marker pens and shovels as we finish up, rule a line through it, dig a hole, burry it and never speak of it again!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

The last thing a team with the word wood in its name wants to see, is a carpenter in the opposition working on defence! Time to Restump Podcast Lukey Ryan’s woodworking masterclass and the hard-fought win over the Woodsmen.

It was always only a matter of time, but Lukey Ryan is back to his brilliant best. He’s moving fluently, his timing precise, he mopped up everything and got us out of strife on more times than we can recall. His stabilising influence and confidence he provides others add to an already well functioning defence. Quite simply, the apprentice chippie was too good for the woodies!

Now that was a win! Don’t know about anyone else but we’re a bit bemused by the negative commentary surrounding the game from a spectacle standpoint. Despite the constant efforts of commentators to suggest we were struggling; the game was never, not even for a second, not in the balance. Every moment mattered, you were fully engaged and locked in and you couldn’t take your eyes of it.

Admittedly the conditions and consequent errors didn’t help, but there were so many majestic moments amid the madness. Have we become spoilt by dry weather footy? Are we unrealistically captured by the desire for perfection?

Yes, he may have won the game for the Pies had he taken his chances… but how many times did we crunch Lachie Schultz? What about the moments of Murphy Reid mesmerism? Luke Jackson’s 4 huge grabs in a 5-minute period, Dudley applying chase down pressure, the Johnson goal, the Amiss goal, the Brayshaw lunging tackle and of course the Josh Treacy game saving clunk!

I’ll be back in 20 minutes, I gotta go watch them all again!

Alex Pearce once again showed why the captain’s cap fits and it’s his for as long as he wants. You’d go as far as to suggest he’d be your first picked player if you were selecting the team. He and Josh Treacy have the ability to meaningfully impact the game without necessarily having ball in hand.

Izzy Dudley’s rise has been meteoric! He’s gone from the sub to the sublime in the blink of an eye. Do we win that game without his contribution? He takes his chances and creates opportunities for others.

Given where they have come from, their journeys to get here and that they’ve had to fight for everything, it is incredible to realise that the tough, combative and courageous Wagner and Worner workhorses are integral parts of the war plans.

Gary Lyon and co going after Murphy Reid, chipping him for the occasional mistake, while somehow simultaneously suggesting he is miraculous, was a strange take. He’s a kid who performs on-field sorcery, something he can’t do if he doesn’t attempt it. What is that quote about missing 100% of the shots you don’t take?

We can’t end this parochial Docker diatribe without stopping, folding the arms and nodding in acknowledgement of and appreciation for Luke Jackson. He got the JL message loud and clear at half time and went on a rampage! In the five to six minute period between the end of the 3rd quarter and the beginning of 4th, he managed four big clunking grabs. Add those to his absurd output and you realise he’s actually going up levels before our very eyes!

We have to get Paddy back up and about. The AFL suits have destroyed his spirit as he now plays well within himself, without the freeing exuberance. He’s regressed inward and that is not helping him, the team or us fans. Could the Derby timing be any better? What better way to get your mojo back than unleashing the Pony mayhem in a Western Derby!

Anyway, it was too big a win and there is too much more to say and not enough ink to say it all here! So, if you’re not ready to move on from the Gather Round, gather round and let’s contin

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

You’re more than enough Vossy, but we need you to bring back the infectious, contagious exuberance the miserable, joyless folk belted out of you! Time to Restump Podcast the chaotic conquering of the Crows.

It’s time for Vossy to let go of the inconsequential opinions of him that are held by others and return to his naturally enthusiastic self. Bring back the organic energetic celebratory shenanigans that inspire teammates and resonate with fans. Remember, the Pony is fine; the spirit makes it shine!

We’ve discussed it often, we’ve had differing opinions and we’ve switched viewpoints. However, we’ve arrived back at a unified position that the Freo Docker captaincy is Alex Pearce’s until he says otherwise! We don’t win that game without him and I’m not even talking about the smother. It’s what he did repeatedly leading up to those last few astonishing acts that ensured we were even a chance to win, something he does all too often. The concern, though, is our prospects rely almost exclusively on his availability.

Whatever the case, its Moose’s world and he just lets us live in it.

The usual suspects performed in their usual manner but it’s the growth in the likes of Matty Johnson, Neil Erasmus and Karl Worner that has raised the team’s floor.

Are Jye Amiss and Sean Darcy taking positive strides? Jye showing some of his yesteryear energy and four goals and Darcy seemingly moving a lot more freely and looking substantially more confident and carefree.

While a wonderful win it was to secure, and one that may have slipped through our fingers in years gone by, are the dramatic heroics of the final moments covering up some issues? We had a run of 7 goals kicked against us and we kicked just 3 goals in the 2nd half. We’ve played 2 relevant or significant teams this year, Geelong and Adelaide, and we’ve kicked just 3 goals in each of the 2nd halves. Concerns or too small a sample size?

We move on quick to Gather Round but there is always time to stop and smell the purple victory roses. So, if you’re still coming down from Freo’s frenetic Friday fanfare, join us as we celebrate, anticipate, appreciate, advocate, deliberate and hopefully stop stealing INXS lyrics!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Did we really destroy the Tigers or did we just turn up when they understandably couldn’t? In any case Josh Treacy put on a marking exhibition, catching everything. He’d catch a shadow in the dark! Time to Restump Podcast the toppling of the Tiges.

That was some display from Josh Treacy. The one grab marking in less-than-ideal conditions often against more than one opponent was unrealistically clinical. If I was an opponent, I’d be calling for an investigation into the possible use of Velcro or superglue!

The Tigers came out roaring, throwing everything they had at us in the first half to make it a hard-fought game until that point. However, while they did have some experience out there, you can’t be minus your spine, play ten youngsters and perform for four quarters. Tom Lynch up forward, Toby Nankervis in the ruck and Nathan Broad down back would make any side infinitely better.

However, we’re not here to make excuses for opponents. Our wayward kicking saved the Tigers from a 150-point belting! 35 shots on goal to 13 and we kicked just 7 goals more than them.

We had 12 players hit the scoreboard and almost no one was immune from the inaccurate disease. Oddly enough Caleb Serong, who goes at a tick over 45% career goal accuracy, was our most accurate with 2 goals 1. Only Serong and Treacy ended up on thee right side of the ledger.

Luke Jackson had a wonderful game but even his usually reliable radar was off kicking 1 goal 4. The subdued Paddy Voss 1 goal 3, Switta 2 behinds and, while it was great to see him get amongst it, Jye Amiss hit 2 goals 3.

It’s difficult to contemplate that Shai Bolton may have just played his best game for the club without numerous goals involved. His mid work and forward of centre was a sight to behold and seeing the beaming smile on his face in play, we weren’t the only ones happy with his work!

Did we see some vast improvement in Sean Darcy the longer the game went on? He played under half of the first half but clicked over to 53.5% in the second half. Admittedly against non-existent ruckmen he should have shown something, but his confidence seemed to grow the more he got involved. But the question remains, does Darcy’s reemergence lessen Jackson’s output?

To be honest the entire game and result was the formality it should have been. There was a fair bit of ‘going through the motions’ but you still have to get it done. We turned up, weathered the storm in more ways than one, endured whatever Richmond could muster and then put them to the sword for a more than comfortable victory. We bank the four valuable points and we look to the next fortnight in South Australia.

However, it’s a sin not to celebrate a Freo win. So, bring your party paraphernalia to the parade and as we peel back the panels and probe the performances of the purple players on the pod.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Is there enough Dudley to go around? Everyone wants to see more Dudley! Time to Restump Podcast Dudley’s disorienting of the Dees.

He’s given us snippets before, thrilled us with his momentary glimpses, he has teased us, leaving us wanting so much more. Saturday night he gave us the extended version, the full feature-length Dudley film.

15 quality touches, 4 tackles, 7 score involvements and 3 goals 1. Personal best numbers every which way you look! What a difference another year of hard work and a second preseason makes. After averaging just under 60% time on ground in 2025, he punched out 80% on Saturday night.

You couldn’t take your eyes off Izzy, but the background is no place for the Paddy as he put on a pony show of his own. Admittedly it was more of a circus, but didn’t we all ‘roll up, roll up!’

Typically, though, the AFL stooges, who are blatantly showing us they couldn’t run a tap, decided for everyone, Vossy’s antics weren’t a good look and instantly plucked a fine out of thin air to crush his spirit. We’re now truly entrenched in an era in which the eternally offended, self-serving finger waggers hand out fines for mean words and gestures. Rest in peace mental resilience.

If the end game is the sterilisation of the entire industry and the eradication of entertaining character and personality, it’d be the only area in which Andrew Dillon and his cronies are succeeding.

Just as you wonder where Melbourne would be without Max Gawn, I fear Freo’s whereabouts without Alex Pearce. His performance on Saturday was so much more impactful than his 5 touches suggest.

However, it was the defensive collective again with special mention to Karl Worner whose stocks continue to rise. And having Luke Ryan seamlessly slot back in was comforting and stress alleviating.

Shae Bolton was off the scale in easily his best game in purple, 10 clunking marks from the thundering Treacy train was a night out and Murphy Reid with his 25 and 2 goals… it’s getting a bit monotonous!

But can we just stop for a moment to marvel at the performance of the debutant and pay credit once again to Wallsy and co? Have we found our small high half forward in the form of Chris Scerri? The speed on that guy! The game was in danger of getting called off for lighting! He’s been on the list five minutes, he leapfrogs higher profile draftees, lands a debut, picks up 20 touches and has Gout Gout watching on saying, “who the f@#k is that guy?” You’ve done it again, Wallsy!

Overall, it was a good win and all you can do is win. We do have a few concerns with Jye’s form and the long-term prospects of Oscar McDonald down back and across the board it wasn’t quite a four-quarter level of performance where I think we’d like to be. But thankfully there is fair bit of polish still in the tin as it needs applying.

We’ve opened the win account, squared the points ledger and gotten the season up and rolling. While some people believe things are better off unsaid, we are not those people. We’ve always said, too much being said is never said enough. Nuff said, in more ways than one! Join us on the pod for more of this type of said idiocy!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Frankie Valli and his four seasons is no match for Chris Scerri Scerri Baby and his first season, and you can’t change our minds! Time to Restump Podcast the imminent making of amends for round one as we take on the new look Melbourne Dees in round two.

What a great result for Chris Scerri and his family to nail down a debut only moments after landing a contract at Freo. The odds of making it through the supplemental selection period and getting onto a list aren’t high, so you really need to show plenty to achieve it. He’s obviously done exactly that and more to land not only the contract but a debut before his higher profile draftee colleagues who occupy the same position.

While we’re celebrating Scerri’s inclusion, we go in unfortunately with the forced change having lost Hayden Young to hamstring concerns. Youngy pulled up with some soreness and a minor tear, but who knows, according to Caroline Wilson, he may just be whinging.

Is there a chance of a late change? After just 44% game time last week and training away from the group in the later part of the week, could we see another purple debut in the form of Mason Cox? Despite the help from Jackson he’ll receive, do we really want to go in with an underdone Darcy against Max Gawn?

The Dees look a new and freer outfit. Aided by former Saints stalwart Jack Steele, they moved the ball through the likes of Harvey Langford and Caleb Windsor with speed and purpose against the Saints and capped off their work well in front of goal. Jacob Van Rooyan and the dual panels on the Picket fence up forward looked scary and the addition of Brody Mihocek has been a good one.

The club is certainly not the 2026 struggler we all thought it may be after losing Petracca, Oliver, May and McVee.

We got a taste of what we’re capable of last week in the first quarter against Geelong. However, we also got more than a taste of what we’re capable of in the following three quarters! So, if we serve up a repeat performance of that first quarter effort and extend it for a further quarter or two, we will see our first four points.

With the conditioning run under our belts and the home ground advantage, we’re Looking forward to what should be an entertaining contest. So, as a quick game is apparently a good game, suit up, make a list of your whinges and join us for a short 30-minute preview of the must win encounter.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

It’s a unique game this Aussie rules caper. Almost as unique as the AFL’s caveat clad, ironic equality and inclusivity policy. Maybe next year we can play round one in Mumbai! Time to Restump Podcast the air gasping gut punch against Geelong.

We’ve got mixed emotions about what unfolded on Saturday. There is no guarantee the situation with opening round dictated the result, but it was too conspicuous to not have had a substantial impact. However, result aside, reduce the possible advantage or disadvantage by simply abolishing the nonsensical round zero.

After starting in sensational fashion, the Cats ate into some of our lead in the second term. But we had to expect it; I mean its Geelong we were up against… it’s not as if it was West Coast! But midway through the third quarter we hit the brick wall and there was no second wind. We stumbled onto the treadmills where we remained, unable to stop the combat-ready conditioned Cats from catching us.

While the result was disappointing, what we delivered in the first quarter was the scintillating silver lining and the positive to take out of the day. Put some match fitness behind it and we should be in for a more than handy year.

However, we didn’t necessarily do ourselves any favours as we likely compounded the opening round conditioning issues through selection. Knowing the challenges, you must ponder why we’d go in with an obviously underdone Sean Darcy and an Alex Pearce with a question mark where his halo usually is. Sean Darcy managed just 44% game time. Only three other players over the round, played less than 50% game time without injury reasoning.

We’re not into consolation prizes but the loss wasn’t defining or season trend setting. It has that familiar feel of the ‘one that got away,’ yet it is far from a round one loss that has us saying, ”Oh here we go again.” There were contributing factors beyond our control, but we probably didn’t take care of the factors that were within it, and there lie the disappointment and frustration.

2025 round one and 2026 round one, while both resulted in losses to the same team at the same venue, that is where the similarities end. On a post-match perspective and what it potentially means going forward, they couldn’t be further apart.

How deep we can we dig into this game? How deep does this game need digging into? We don’t know! But put on your archaeological wide brimmed field hat, bundle up your trowel, shovel and brush and join us as we see what nuggets of nonsense we can unearth on the pod.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Is the overlooking of the workhorse, the defensive stalwart, the ten-year warrior, Lukey Ryan, unconcerning, or has it evolved into intrigue? Are we pretending the elephant in the room is a big purple lamp? Time to Restump Podcast the curious case of the custodian and the clash against the Cats!

Despite his recent performances in the WAFL preseason and his own assurances that he’s good to go, the longtime walk-up-start has been passed over. We have to take Justin Longmuir and his reasoning on face value that Luke Ryan has somehow dropped a peg in the pecking order, but with the Cats possessing a tricky and versatile forward line, wouldn’t we sleep a little easier knowing the chippie was chiming in?

The first game of the season is upon us, and those familiar feelings have returned. There’s an ounce of anticipation, a hint of trepidation, a tablespoon of fear and a boat load of excitement filling the pot of the emotional simmering stew.

We’re heading down to the Cattery, otherwise known as the field of fictitious finger fractures, to right the round one wrongs of twelve months ago. Have we learned from the mistakes everyone in the team, except Murphy Reid, made that day?

After no word or contact, we sent out a search party during the preseason to find the Disco. We just needed some proof of life but there wasn’t a blip on the radar and the silence was deafening. However, Nathan O’Driscoll must have been hiding in plain sight, because round one comes along and ‘hey presto,’ he’s back! He stuck his noggin up and got the nod. It proves Disco never dies; when it’s not centre stage, it’s existing in the background ready to reemerge.

With O’Driscoll, Sean Darcy and Switta returning, joining Hayden Young and Brandon Wallker, it feels like the members of the band, the Red Hot Injury Peppers, have reunited.

We welcome Wagner and Worner back, we have Judd McVee in for his first official game in purple for premiership points and we’re always glad to see Alex Pearce, with or without his whiteboard.

Not going to lie though, while Oscar MacDonald will fill the void to some degree, without Brennan Cox and Luke Ryan’s reliability, it feels we may be a little vulnerable in the last line of defense.

However, we go in full of faith our favoured forces will formidably fight the feline fraternity. While Fictitious Finger Fracture Field is quite the home ground advantage where few away teams fare well, it holds no fear for us knowing we’ve won five of our last ten appearances there.

It’s time to parcel it up, put it all together and ponder the plight of our purple platoon on the preview pod. So, if you’re showing some Docker drivel decibel deficiencies, bring your ears and we’ll fill your purple prescriptions.

Send a text

Support the show