Derby blues for Dockers and Eagles?

Another bruising, knock-em-down, drag-em-out Western Derby has been consigned to the history books, with the Kangaroos and Essendon the most interested observers of another classic at Subiaco last Sunday.

The West Coast-Fremantle rivalry is as spicy a contest you can witness in AFL home-and-away football, but it is just as intriguing to study how both clubs recover from the massive emotional build-up – and then the physical toll from the game itself – for their respective engagements the following week.

It is even more pertinent this round given the season-defining matches the Eagles and Dockers are involved in; in particular the men in blue and gold, whose clash with the Roos on Sunday at Telstra Dome has massive ramifications regarding the top four positions on the ladder, and the subsequent number of home finals teams may enjoy throughout September.

Long has it been thought that West Coast and Fremantle struggle to come up the week after a Derby, and a thorough analysis of their form indicates, while it may not be as bad as the conspiracy theorists would have us believe, you still wouldn't mind your team playing either club – especially away from Perth – the following round.

Before this Sunday's matches, the two clubs – combined – have played 49 games immediately after a Derby (the first one was staged in round 7, 1995). They have won just 20 of them (10 each), while losing 29 (Eagles 15, Dockers 14), and that is a marked improvement on the 15-28 scoreline it was until at the end of 2005.

As you begin to break the numbers down further, the most obvious trend appears – get West Coast or Fremantle travelling the week after they have torn strips off each other and you have a 75 per-cent chance of success.

The team that has played at home in Perth the week after a Derby has prevailed in 14 of 24 matches, with the split identical – the Eagles and Dockers have played 12 each, winning seven and losing five.

Interestingly, as West Coast has rebuilt itself as a power from 2001 onwards, it has won its past five home games the week after facing Fremantle, meaning at one stage that win-loss ratio stood at a mediocre 2-5.

However, when on the road, the combined result is a sub-standard six victories from 25 starts, and the traditionally poor-travelling Fremantle hasn't hijacked those numbers either. The Dockers are 3-9 from 12 games, with the Eagles 3-10 from 13.

There is no doubt an element of luck is involved in all of this – as in, which teams the two West Australian franchises have been drawn against the week after their ferocious battles, and how those opponents are faring.

For example, West Coast's worst two worst seasons since entering the competition have been the Ken Judge-coached years of 2000 and 2001 (13th and 14th). In 2000 the Eagles had to play eventual Grand Finalist Melbourne immediately after both Derbies (for 61 and 70-point defeats), while in '01 they ran into Richmond on its way to the finals for just the second time in almost 20 years and lost both encounters by 39 and 65 points.

The fixture isn't as consistent as it once was, and I'm sure both clubs would like repeats of who they met after the first Derby of 2007. The Eagles