Click to watch the first Derby win on YouTube.
18 July, 1999. This is the date the Fremantle Dockers finally stepped out of the shadow of cross-town rival West Coast by winning the Western Derby for the very first time at Subiaco Oval.
The nine failed attempts prior to this round 16 game were consigned to history as Freo fans and players celebrated the 47 point win.
The team song had never been sung with as much “gusto”, as commentator Dennis Cometti pointed out, in Freo’s history to that point.
Adrian Fletcher was best-on-ground with a brilliant 39 disposal game, while Jason Norrish (32 touches) and Dale Kickett (28) were also crucial to the victory.
Current general manager of football Chris Bond went down in history as the first Fremantle captain to lift a Derby trophy.
There was perhaps no moment more symbolic that captured the enormity of the win than Tony Modra slamming his hands into the ground after kicking a great goal in the third quarter that broke the Eagles’ hearts.
“What a goal, what a goal,” Cometti said on the telecast.
The former Adelaide spearhead kicked six goals in the match and became the 35th player in league history to kick 500 career goals.
After West Coast had kicked the first three goals of the match, it seemed Freo were heading for another Derby shellacking.
Not this time.
Fremantle had finally had enough of being bullied by its older brother and responded with the next seven goals.
The Eagles got back to within 13 points in the third term before some outstanding midfield direction from Fletcher and the magic of Modra intervened to well and truly get the monkey off the back.
Since that July day in 1999, Fremantle has more than held its own in Derbies, winning 13 of the next 25 clashes.
Click below to see the full stats from the game
