It's not really surprising that Freo have seized on the golden opportunity presented to get rid of both trophy and RG medal.
Since he became coach, Ross Lyon has made it clear, season after season, that he doesn't regard the derby games as particularly significant, beyond the 4 points available for the winner.
Quite right too. I think the Dockers, club and membership, have progressed well beyond those far-off days when a game against the Ooftits was patronisingly dismissed as "our grand final".
It really is just a H & A game, against increasingly irrelevant opposition, becoming more and more like playing the Brisbane Lions, also a top team, once upon a time.