In the club’s 20th season in the AFL, the Fremantle Dockers are releasing an illustrated history that chronicles the first two decades of the club’s existence. The man charged with compiling and writing the publication has been involved with the club since its inception. STORY: COSTA KASTANIS
In 2010, Les Everett met Fremantle Dockers executives with the aim of compiling a written history of the club, which subsequently morphed into the concept of publishing the material in book format to coincide with Freo’s 20th season in the AFL in 2014. Everett was the obvious candidate for the job because of his ties to the club, dating back to 1994. A writer for the Fremantle Herald and the Football Budget at the time, he fell into the one-man job of creating a member magazine for the new AFL team.
The first Docker was a 24-page, tabloid style publication that was released in November of 1994, before Fremantle had even played a game in the AFL.
“I was tasked with introducing people to what sort of a club it would be, and in many cases, introducing the players to the fans,” Everett says.
While he never officially worked for the club, Everett saw himself as an ‘insider-outsider’. He took ownership of the early Docker magazines and club Year Book.
“The first Year Book set a blueprint and it’s followed on now,” he says.
“I was always thinking, if someone’s looking back in 100 years, it should be a good reference for them.”
Beginning in 2003, Everett spent three seasons on the club’s board as a member-elected director. Originally from Boulder in the Goldfields, he has spent countless hours over the past four years interviewing past and present Fremantle players, coaches and officials.
He estimates he’s spoken to about 50, with each interview having to be transcribed and sorted into sections he’d use and those he’d discard.
“I got to a point in 2012 where I had piles and piles of interview transcripts,” Everett says.
“There was this one rainy day in my hotel room in Melbourne when I transcribed my interview with Matthew Pavlich.
“It went all day and well into the night.”
Getting the Slattery Media Group on board as the publisher helped Everett make some sense of the thousands and thousands of words.
“I went from having this huge mountain of papers in front of me that I didn’t know what I was going to do with, to everything then just falling into place and becoming logical,” he says.
“I ploughed through it then.”
Despite all the hard work that was required, Everett thoroughly enjoyed speaking to Fremantle Dockers players and officials from all eras.
Among his favourite interviews for the history book was a conversation with former president Rick Hart.
“There’s something about the way Rick Hart speaks,” Everett says.
“His story about the famous ‘truth’ meeting in 2006, when the season looked like it was going off the rails, and the players getting together over a couple of beers and a bonfire at his farming property in Serpentine, was really funny.”
Among the more controversial was a chat with former Freo coach and current National Party member Damian Drum at Parliament House in Melbourne.
“He had such a fractured relationship with the CEO David Hatt,” Everett says.
“That was an era that I was very close to and one I remember very vividly.”
It was decided the stories from the players in the book would be in the first person. Everett says speaking to current stars was also very interesting and rewarding.
“One in particular was Michael Johnson – there’s something about his sincerity and what he’d gone through, it’s a great story and I really enjoyed speaking to him,” Everett says.
“Some players were mystified when approached about an interview for the book.
“’Why do you want to speak to me?’ they said. They weren’t aware how important they’ve been to the club.”
With the history book now complete and awaiting release, 59-year-old Everett is looking forward to the next chapter of the club’s history.
Whether it’s him or somebody else that writes them, he hopes there’ll be some more great stories to add to a 40 or 50-year history publication down the track.
“The way it’s been structured, people can just add to the book,” he says. “Hopefully, there’s a premiership to write about.”
A must have for any die-hard Docker, the official release date for Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History, is Friday 1 August. RRP is $49.95 and it is available at the Fremantle team stores:
Fremantle Oval, Parry Street, Fremantle
OR
Patersons Stadium, near gate 13.
The book will also be available from the Slattery Media Group and book stores
