I'm not so naive as to hope all Dockerlanders will agree with me on this point, but in my opinion, all true Dockers fans should be pleased that Peel are making a success of their alignment with Freo, because what’s good for Peel is good for the Dockers, in the long-term. The clubs are natural partners, given the ugly bias shown by the local media towards both teams.
If there is a genuine problem with the number of super fit, AFL quality blokes playing finals footy, then the WAFL should consider tweaking the player qualifying rules into some sort of acceptable compromise, that doesn't overly-favour Dockers list management. As Ross Lyon says “winning and losing” is his “fundamental philosophy.” This obviously extends to Peel, so Fremantle will continue to get the most out the alignment, whatever the rules.
It’s not unreasonable to expect that a Peel (or EP) squad for finals footy would be selected only from those players who are no older than, say, 24, or have either played more than 50% of the WAFL season, or more WAFL games than AFL games, in the qualifying season.
If there really are only 10000 true WAFL fans left, then the problem lies entirely with the WAFC, because, maybe, the competition has become unappealing to the broader population. It’s easy to blame the AFL, but what’s really being done about attracting and retaining new paying customers?
If the average WAFL supporter was honest about the situation, then he or she would admit that much of the mud being thrown at the Peel-Dockers alignment relates to the unfair expectation that little Peel Thunder will remain as eternal competition easy-beats, leaving Subiaco/SF/WP/Swans to take turns at the WAFL premiership. That, as far as I can tell, is how things are "meant" to be.
If it was an East Perth-Weagles team breezing into this year's GF, none of these bile-filled articles attacking the alignment model would have been written. Instead, we would have been offered whimsical stories about the Egurls incredible depth of talent, how bright the future looks for Meth Coast, and how brilliant it is to have a strong local competition providing a conveyor belt of talent to support the Slime's next AFL premiership...
