Western Derby: Best-ever goals in history of cross-town clashes between West Coast Eagles & Fremantle Dockers

West Australian

5 days ago

The 15th goal kicked in this weekend's clash between Fremantle and West Coast will be the 1500th western derby goal of all time.
To celebrate, we've gone back through the archives to pick out the 15 best-ever majors in derbies, ranging from freakish finishes to clutch kicking.
Check out our countdown and have your say below on what you think deserves to be No.1 - and any other goals you'd argue should be on the list!
Brett Heady's crunching tackle on Freo's Quenton Leach paved the way for Lewis, who swooped on the loose footy, gathered himself, and launched truly from beyond 50.
It gave West Coast a 20-point buffer in the early stages of the final term in the second derby of 1998 to help the Eagles continue their unbeaten cross-town run.
In a year where he'd go on to snare a Norm Smith Medal, Shuey showed his appetite for a big moment with a superb running goal in the first-ever derby at Optus Stadium.
Streaming forward from the centre square, Shuey gathered a tumbling ball without breaking stride before saluting from 55m.
In the opening quarter of his first derby, and with reigning All-Australian defender Brad Sheppard for company, Treacy gave a glimpse of why he'd quickly become a Freo favourite.
Having failed to complete the mark while outmuscling Sheppard, Treacy collected the footy and quickly snapped on his non-preferred left from deep in the pocket.
An unlikely man for this list, given he only booted three majors in his 16 derby appearances, but this one was worth celebrating.
After a brilliant build-up that featured a trademark Ben Cousins dash, Jakovich paddled the footy to himself, got the bounce he needed, and finished on the run before shouting to the crowd in Subiaco's south-east pocket.
Pavlich had the ball on a string as he produced what remains Freo's biggest-ever derby goalkicking haul with a bag of eight in a thumping 2012 victory.
His sixth was the pick of the bunch as he cleanly collected an inside-50 kick that pitched just in front of him before snapping from a tight angle with Eric Mackenzie right on his hammer.
It's well known that West Coast players used to practice plenty of shots on goal in front of the players' race leading to their old Subiaco changerooms, so LeCras was no stranger to this spot on the ground when he dobbed a 2017 ripper.
Collecting a Beau Waters handpass hard up against the boundary line, LeCras dribbled a pinpoint snap from 30m out that eluded Griffin Logue on the goal line.
Left foot, tightest of angles, under plenty of pressure from Matt Rosa and Scott Selwood.
None of that worried a teenage Fyfe as he hit the banana sweetly to slot one of the toughest goals of his decorated career.
This was the very first goal of John Worsfold's lengthy stint as Eagles coach, and it was a fair way for the successful era to begin.
Embley pounced on a loose footy in the middle of Subiaco Oval, bounced off Shaun McManus, took a bounce and blasted truly from almost 60m out for a superb solo effort.
'The Wiz' could make the difficult look easy, so a set shot from 50m while standing beyond the boundary line was no problem.
Against a backdrop of boos from the West Coast home fans, Farmer steered a torpedo - yes, a full-blown barrel - through the major opening before leaping into McManus' arms.
The second derby of 2003 was among the highest-stakes clashes in the rivalry's history, with both teams in contention for a top-four berth as they squared off in the final round of the season.
Immediately after a stunning Daniel Kerr goal - see more below - Medhurst effectively sealed the game late in the final term with a gather, slip, regather, blind snap effort that sparked wild celebrations among Freo fans.
A nerves-of-steel set shot that remains the only final-minute match-winning goal in derby history.
After finding himself in space and accepting a Peter Bell pass with the Dockers down by a point, Hasleby met the moment and kicked truly from a step inside 50 to seal a famous victory.
Perhaps the western derby's most iconic display of courage.
There were serious concerns for McManus' welfare as he lay sprawled out on the Subi turf after going back with the flight and getting crunched by David Wirrpanda.
But after needing almost 90 seconds to collect himself and take his kick, the co-captain converted to cap a truly inspirational moment for the young club.
After watching nine straight derby defeats to begin the cross-town rivalry, this was the moment Freo fans started to truly believe that a breakthrough victory was on the cards.
Running onto a kick to space inside 50 from Greg Harding, Modra tapped the ball out in front of him, eked out an inch of separation from Ashley McIntosh, and launched from what commentator Dennis Cometti labelled an 'impossible angle'.
The kick sailed through as Modra slammed the turf four times with both hands - with McIntosh lying on top of him - for one of his six goals, and with the lead out to 25 late in the third term, the foundation had been laid for the historic win.
This was desperately close to being No.1 - a stunning solo effort that was rightfully crowned 2003's Goal of the Year.
Receiving a handpass from Michael Braun on the half-back flank, Kerr took off for the longest running major in Eagles history.
After five bounces and having kept a chasing Antoni Grover at bay, the midfield ace still had enough juice to clear the goal line from close to 50m to briefly give his team hope before the aforementioned Medhurst major secured Freo's win.
West Coast had reeled off 11 consecutive derby wins, and Serong had seen enough.
With Freo clinging to a six-point lead midway through the last quarter, Serong got knocked to the turf by Dom Sheed, bounced back up, and threaded through the banana from hard up against the boundary.
'Serong, so right!' was the famous call from Anthony Hudson as the star Docker helped seal the victory and the first of his four Glendinning-Allan Medals - as well as the Goal of the Year prize, for good measure.