Saturday, 1 April, 1995 was a historic day for football in Western Australia and for the AFL in general. The Fremantle Dockers played their first official game against Richmond at the home of footy, the MCG.
Led out by captain Ben Allan, who had won a premiership at Hawthorn in 1991, and coached by Gerard Neesham, Freo made a fast start to its AFL life.
Todd Ridley wrote his name into the record books by kicking the club’s first ever goal from a set-shot and Freo found itself four points up at quarter-time.
But the Tigers rallied and only an inaccurate 13 behinds to half-time kept Freo in the game as Richmond took a two-goal lead into the main break.
The Tigers, led by goalsneak Nick Daffy (three goals), gained the ascendancy in the third quarter, kicking four goals to two which gave the yellow and black a commanding 24-point lead with a quarter to play.
But the new kids on the block weren’t done yet.
Freo rallied with a withering five-goal burst, falling an agonising five points short of an improbable victory.
The Tigers were made to fight tooth and nail, leaving coach John Northey to admit they were “very rusty”. Wayne Campbell and future Freo-captain Chris Bond led the way for the home side in the midfield and Brendan Gale provided a solid target in the forward line.
Matthew Burton played a solid game in the ruck for Fremantle with 21 disposals and 13 hitouts, while Allan was his usual reliable self with 28 touches and a goal.
Ridley’s three goals earned him two Brownlow Medal votes at the end of the season.
A young man named Peter Bell also made his debut but was well held finishing with just six disposals. He would go on to play only one more game in his debut season before moving to North Melbourne in 1996, where he won two flags with the Kangaroos (1996 and 1999). Bell returned to Freo in 2001 and would go on to captain the club from 2002-2006.
Despite the brave comeback, the fairytale start to Fremantle’s AFL existence was not to be in what was an auspicious debut for the new club.
