I live in Melbourne and I find the Great Northern to be pretty full of itself at times. Great craft-beer selection but the staff have been known to be a bit rude. They have had the attitude in the past that they can say what they want to Freo supporters cos they know there's not a lot of other big Freo fan-base type pubs. Granted it's always been chock full of Freo fans so they may have been under the pump but felt like they were biting the hand that feeds.
I have headed to The Rose in Fitzroy in the past which gets a fair Freo crowd but I've just read it's currently closed (sadly) due to renovations. I would have gone there for the Derby and now I'm just trying to decide if the Great Northern is worth it. I'd be interested to hear if the Fitzroy crowd are just going to another nearby pub to watch the Derby (i.e. The Napier)