Forget Pav and bring the spoons
29/07/2010 2:39 PM
Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich may have urged the club's fans not to bring wooden spoons to Sunday's Western Derby against West Coast but Dockers supporters should ignore his plea and enjoy their time in the sun.
For so long the poor cousin in the Western Australian capital, having not even come close to emulating what West Coast has done in its 23 completed seasons in the VFL/AFL, Fremantle finds itself in an unaccustomed position in 2010.
That's because while the Dockers have played finals twice previously - in 2003 when they were knocked straight out by the Bombers and in 2006 when they made a preliminary final - this year they will play in September when their rivals the Eagles will not.
Not only will West Coast miss out but this season the club is favourite to finish last for the first time since joining the competition in the late 1980s, a position Fremantle fans are familiar with having won just twice in 2001 en route to the wooden spoon.
With all that in mind, not to mention the near certainty that Eagles supporters would do the same if the situation was reversed, all Dockers fans should make the most of their club's relatively lofty position on the ladder and bring wooden spoons in their thousands on Sunday.
Pavlich may be encouraging his team's supporters to show restraint this weekend and coach Mark Harvey might do the same when he fronts the media on Thursday but you can be sure some Fremantle players will ignore them.
He may not take a wooden spoon onto the field with him - although wouldn't it be funny if he did? - but the obvious candidate to not only wind up the West Coast fans but also stir the opposition as well is goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne.
Not backward in coming forward out on the field, regardless of how well his team is performing at the time, Ballantyne can almost surely be relied on to enjoy the spotlight on Sunday with his team likely to win its seventh derby in a row.
And Fremantle fans should enjoy it while they can for while their club's short to medium-term future looks exciting there will come a time down the track when the roles are reversed and they'll cop it when the tables do turn.