BREAKING THROUGH THE BANNER
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1995 MCG
The Fremantle Dockers, led by inaugural captain Ben Allan, broke through the banner for the first time as an AFL club. The opponent was Richmond at the MCG. The man whose name will forever be inscribed in Fremantle Dockers’ history was Todd Ridley, who calmly slotted a first quarter set-shot for the club’s first ever goal. Freo lost a hard fought contest 12.13.85 to Richmond’s 12.18.90.

AFTER THE SIREN VICTORY
SUNDAY, MAY 18, 1997 SUBIACO OVAL
Fremantle were down by one point against Brisbane at Subiaco Oval when Quenton Leach popped up to mark close to goal. The siren sounded, leaving him with a simple scenario. Goal, and Freo would have its first after the siren win. A point would mean a draw. Leach calmly slotted the major and instigated a jubilant celebration.

PLAYER 4391
1999 AFL NATIONAL DRAFT
It was the 1999 National Draft, and Freo had already picked up Paul Hasleby with its priority selection. While Collingwood selected Josh Fraser with number two, Richmond then chose Aaron Fiora with pick three. The next moment could go down as the most important in the first 20 years of the Fremantle Dockers. Club recruiting boss Phil Smart called out the name of a South Australian from Woodville West-Torrens – Player 4391, Matthew Pavlich.

KICKETT STANDS TALL
SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2000 SUBIACO OVAL
It ultimately cost him nine weeks on the sidelines, and an opportunity to be a life member at Fremantle, but Dale Kickett was not going to let the Eagles rough up his younger teammates, as they had attempted with first year player Matthew Pavlich before the ball had even been bounced. In one of the wildest brawls seen in the modern game, Kickett seized the moment to stand up for his comrades. A fired up Freo came back from a huge deficit to win the ‘Demolition Derby’ by a point.

McMANUS DEFINES COURAGE
SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2001 SUBIACO OVAL
It typified everything Shaun McManus was about. Running with the flight of the ball after a kick inside 50 from teammate Andrew Shipp, McManus had eyes only for the Sherrin. As he leapt into the air to mark, West Coast’s David Wirrpanda launched himself into the Freo midfielder and applied a bone-jarring bump that would have incapacitated a lesser man. Not‘Shauny Mac’. It took him a while just to get back on his feet, but he gathered himself and kicked the set-shot through the big sticks from a tight angle.

ALL HAIL ‘THE WIZ’
SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2002 SUBIACO OVAL
It went perfectly to script. Jeff Farmer, who had left Melbourne to join Fremantle in 2002, won a free kick just as the final siren sounded and with his new team one point behind his old one. The Wiz converted, ran towards the fans and jumped onto the Subiaco Oval railing. He raised both arms towards the sky, as if to soak in all the adoration pouring in from the Fremantle supporters.

MODRA STAMPS FREO’S AUTHORITY
SUNDAY, JULY 18, 1999 SUBIACO OVAL
The game was not over on the clock, but every Fremantle supporter knew it was done as a contest when Tony Modra squeezed a remarkable shot through the big sticks under severe West Coast pressure. When ‘Mods’ realised he’d kicked the goal, he stamped both hands into the Subiaco Oval turf, and with it he stomped out any hopes the Eagles had of maintaining a perfect Derby record.

McPHARLIN SETS UP LONGMUIR
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2005 SUBIACO OVAL
While it was Justin Longmuir who marked right on the siren against St Kilda and then sent Subiaco into delirium by goaling, the moment that mattered most in this unforgettable chapter of Freo history occurred further up the ground, just before Longmuir’s mark. It was Luke McPharlin who ran down a St Kilda player who was about to clear his team to safety. McPharlin won the free kick and then pumped the football deep into the forward line with just seconds to go. Without this brilliant play, victory belonged to the Saints.

THE ‘HEART & SOUL’ DEPARTS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008 SUBIACO OVAL
Rarely has a player been loved as much by both teammates and the fans. Shaun McManus was not the best player in the league. He wasn’t the fastest, nor the strongest. He was, however, second to none for courage, resilience and passion. So when the moment arrived for him to say goodbye to his beloved fans, ‘Shauny Mac’ made sure he did it in style. Following a big Derby win, perched upon the shoulders of Matthew Pavlich and Ryan Crowley, he raised both arms triumphantly towards the sky and let out an almighty roar.

‘DUFF’ SINKS ‘THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL’
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010 SUBIACO OVAL
Coming off a 14th placed finish in 2009, Fremantle faced up to one of the greatest teams to ever play the game – Mark Thompson’s dual premiership winning Geelong. In a scintillating encounter, the young Freo Dockers sent a shockwave across the AFL with an incredible win. The moment that sealed it arrived when defender Paul Duffield received a handball from Stephen Hill deep in the fourth quarter and calmly slotted the goal to send Subiaco into frenzy.

‘THAT GOAL’
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2013, QUALIFYING FINAL SIMONDS STADIUM, GEELONG
Stephen Hill made an instant impact in his first AFL game in round 1, 2009. He won a free kick and a 50m penalty at the opening bounce and blasted through a raking left-foot goal that had teammates coming from everywhere to congratulate him. Five seasons later he was again involved in one of the most memorable moments in club history. However, Hill’s 65th career goal was markedly more significant than any he’d ever kicked. It was the five-bounce classic that began after Aaron Sandilands had bashed the ball towards the boundary line, only for Hill to enter through the interchange gate at the perfect time. The end result, another left-foot dagger, sunk Geelong at Simonds Stadium and catapulted Fremantle into a home preliminary final. And much like his first goal in 2009, ‘Hilly’ was mobbed by his teammates, while the scenes back home in WA were joyous.

GRANDFINAL WEEK
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21–28, 2013
The siren had not sounded, but the result was beyond doubt. The enormity of what their players were just minutes away from confirming was not lost on any of the 43,249 supporters in attendance at Patersons Stadium for the 2013 Preliminary Final. A chant of ‘MCG, MCG’ broke out around the ground, making hairs stand up on the back of anyone wearing purple. Inside the rooms after the game, Shaun McManus embraced Matthew Pavlich and said ‘Thank you, from the bottom of my heart’. It seemed like one moment led to the next. It kicked off a week that no one involved with the club in any way would ever forget. There were the 10,000 fans that turned up for Tuesday’s training session, and the overwhelming send-off at Perth Airport on Thursday. On Friday, Melbournians could not escape the overwhelming chant of ‘FREO’ that echoed across the CBD during the Grand Final Parade. Captain Matthew Pavlich then joined his Hawthorn counterpart Luke Hodge in placing one hand on the Premiership Cup and lifting it in front of the massive crowd. For many Freo fans, that moment made what had seemed a dream all week long, feel suddenly real. On the big day itself, the purple passion was never more evident than during the supporters’ march from Federation Square to the MCG. Then came THE moment. ‘Freo, Way to Go’ played proudly around the ‘G’ as Matthew Pavlich led the team out onto the ground and through the banner to contest the 2013 AFL Grand Final.