The Western Derby exploded on Saturday night when the Dockers and Eagles broke out in a giant scuffle.
Players from all over the ground converged as tensions boiled over halfway through the opening quarter.
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Hugh Dixon slotted a goal as the brawls broke out and then quickly joined in on the action as wrestles flared all over the ground.
Fremantle’s Caleb Serong and West Coasts’ Jack Redden were in the thick of the action as multiple players were left with ripped Guernseys.
“You saw it coming Pav and they’re all racing in to join into the scuffle. No love lost. West Coast, the underdogs, have come with a fighting mentality and it is right on here,” commentator Adam Papalia said.
“The umpires are trying to control this so they can restart the game but they can’t,” Dermott Brereton added.
“Both teams still wrestling each other, there is a fair bit happening,” Papalia said.
Fremantle great Matthew Pavlich said Serong was simply “flying the flag” in the scuffle.
“Andy Brayshaw was getting harassed by Jackson Nelson when he was coming off and he didn’t like it so he went back at him and it just exploded. Caleb Serong came in flying the flag,” he said.
“A bit of spice in Derby 55,” Papalia added.
The Eagles upstaged their cross-town rivals in the opening term to hold the two point lead after the first quarter.
A result matters not for the Eagles, for the Dockers however the result would have a serious bearing on where they finish on the ladder.
Lose and there best chance is a fifth placed finish. Win and they keep their hopes alive of securing a double chance.
The Dockers responded in the second quarter and head into the halftime break holding a slender four point lead.
It’s one of the most famous and unique trades in footy history.
Famous because it involved two players, Chris Judd and Josh Kennedy, that end their careers with stacked CVs, with surely the latter to join the former in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
And unique because both Carlton and West Coast could claim they ‘won’ the trade.
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Debate over the famous 2007 deal between the Blues and Eagles has, inevitably, emerged this week after Kennedy announced West Coast’s upcoming match against Adelaide would be his 293rd and final AFL game.
The soon-to-be 35-year-old will depart as the Eagles’ greatest goalkicker, as well as several accolades including a dual Coleman Medallist, seven-time Eagles leading goalkicker and triple All-Australian. He was also a pivotal member of West Coast’s thrilling 2018 premiership triumph over Collingwood.
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Kennedy’s achievements came almost exclusively at the Eagles after Carton’s No. 4 pick from the 2005 draft was central to one of footy’s most famous trades.
In late 2007, Judd – West Coast’s 2005 premiership captain and arguably the best player in the AFL at the time – wanted to return to Victoria, with the Blues keen to secure his services.
After 11 goals from 22 games at Carlton, Kennedy moved back to Western Australia – although he was happy and settled in Melbourne at the time.
As part of the deal, Carlton acquired Judd and Pick 46, which it used to select Dennis Armfield, who played 145 games for the Blues). The Eagles got Kennedy, as well as Picks 3 (Chris Masten – a premiership Eagle that played 215 games for West Coast) and 20 (Tony Notte, who played two games in three seasons).
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The struggling Blues not only needed a star player, they sought a leader and standard-setter, hence he was made captain in his first year. In his first four seasons at the Blues, Judd made the All-Australian team in each year, won the Blues’ best and fairest in the first three, claimed the 2010 Brownlow Medal and won the AFL Players’ Association’s MVP award.
Judd was four years older than Kennedy when the 2007 trade went down. He was also already a Brownlow Medallist, Norm Smith Medallist and premiership captain.
But as Judd was coming to the end of his career, Kennedy reached his prime. He kicked 59 goals as a 23-year-old before a golden run where he booted 60, 61, 80 (Coleman Medal), 82 (Coleman Medal) and 69 majors across five seasons. Most crucially, the next year he kicked 3.2 from 18 disposals and 11 marks in a winning Grand Final.
Ex-Carlton coach Brett Ratten with Chris Judd on the day he officially became a Blue. Picture: Simon MossmanSource: AAP
Injury forced Judd to retire at 31 following a couple of seasons where it was clear he was part of his incredible prime. Kennedy will retire after a mighty, warrior-like finish to his career that’s seen him kick 43, 49, 34, 41 and 29 goals from the past five seasons. Considering the Eagles’ plight, the poor delivery inside 50 and his own injury niggles, the fact Kennedy has booted 29 goals this year is remarkable.
Ultimately, the Blues got seven seasons out of Judd and the Eagles got 15 out of Kennedy.
So all things considered, who won the 2007 Judd-Kennedy trade?
Fremantle legend Matthew Pavlich perhaps put it most diplomatically.
“Probably West Coast in the long run, but it’s one of those ones where you could probably argue the case either way on who had the better result,” Pavlich told foxfooty.com.au.
“Judd was captain and All-Australian and took the Blues to a finals win in 2013. So maybe the short-term winner was Carlton, but definitely the long-term winner has been West Coast in terms of Josh Kennedy being an incredible forward for a long, long period of time, All-Australian, Coleman Medalist and eventually a premiership player in 2018. He’s been a star for a long time.
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“So short-term Carlton, long-term West Coast – it’s not usually you get a trade like that where both teams could argue that they got a better result.”
Ultimately, the business of footy is winning, which is what swayed two Fox Footy pundits to the Eagles.
“Without judging the individual players but judging from the time of the trade, I would feel West Coast won the trade,” triple premiership Lion Alastair Lynch told foxfooty.com.au. “That’s not reducing or belittling Judd’s contribution because he is one of the all-time greats of the game, but post-trade, West Coast got a flag out of it and I suppose Carlton didn’t, so I’d have them just in front.”
Bulldogs games record-holder Brad Johnson told foxfooty.com.au: “Well West Coast won a flag, so I think with what West Coast got out of Kennedy was absolutely spot on for what they needed as a team.”
Triple premiership forward Cameron Mooney also leant towards West Coast – but not by much.
Josh Kennedy with the 2018 Premiership Cup. Picture: Michael KleinSource: News Corp Australia
“I think it worked out pretty well for both. But if I had to pick, being a forward and knowing how hard it is to kick 700 goals and to win a premiership, which is the main game of the game, you have to think probably West Coast,” Mooney told foxfooty.com.au. “But I would’ve been very, very happy if Chris Judd walked through my doors.
“The thing for Carlton was at the time, the club just wasn’t a good club – and it’s probably the perfect example of one person cannot change a football club. He’s in the top handful of players this century and as great as he is, he couldn’t change a club that, probably until recently, had been seen as a poor club.”
AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson declared it a win-win for the Eagles and Blues.
“They both won. Judd was a champion and Kennedy played 15 years,” Robinson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“His second headline in football was ‘Carlton are giving away Josh Kennedy’ – and his last headline will be ‘Josh Kennedy retires a champion of the game’. It’s a great story.”
AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley added: “It’s quite clear Carlton didn’t know what they were trading, because nobody trades THAT player. He was two years in and the forecasting wasn’t he was going to become one of the top 25 goalkickers of all-time. He might’ve been reluctant at the start, but he found his home from him and West Coast and he won his reputation from him at West Coast.
Dockers great Matthew Pavlich claims Luke Jackson is Fremantle’s “answer for the future” and believes the club should be “going hard for him”.
Plus the Pies are confident on a new deal for a star for 2023 and beyond.
Get the latest player movement news and updates in AFL Trade Whispers!
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WHY JACKSON IS FREMANTLE’S ‘ANSWER’
Fremantle should be “going hard” for Luke Jackson, according to Dockers great Matthew Pavlich as he believes the 20-year-old is the “answer” for the future.
Jackson is out of contract at the end of this season, and has put talks on hold with the Demons. It’s fueled speculation he wants to return home to WA for 2023 and beyond.
While there’s plenty of debate over just how much the young ruckman is worth per season, with some estimates at $800,000, Pavlich says a partnership between Jackson and Sean Darcy is one Fremantle fans should get around.
“There’s the now and then there’s the future,” he said on SEN WA.
“The now, Luke Jackson would be a pretty good player in that Fremantle side. If you take out, I guess you’d have to give something to get something. So is it Rory Lobb for Luke Jackson? Is that part of the deal? I don’t know.
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“Whether he’s the answer right now, he’s a great player. We know what he’s capable of. He’s 20.
“In the context of young developing ruckmen, he’s a great young developing ruckman.
“Is he a great player yet? No. He’s got the potential to be a really great player.
“He’s the answer for the future. He can help Fremantle long-term.
“I would absolutely be going hard for him… him and Sean Darcy as a combination between ruck/forward – that’s a threat for a long time if you’re a Fremantle supporter.”
But what would the Dockers have to offer and where would Jackson fit into the line up?
Pavlich says Darcy would still remain the number one ruck in his eyes.
“What they miss is a dynamic leading forward at the moment,” he said.
“But if you wanted to look at Luke Jackson in a Fremantle jumper on Friday night then you’d take out something and it’d have to be one of the key forwards from the Fremantle line up.”
Despite all the contract talk surrounding Luke Jackson, Melbourne captain Max Gawn is confident his premiership teammate will knock back a huge offer to join Fremantle.
“Luke’s a talent and he’s got every right, as every player does, to look at any offer that’s coming his way,” Gawn told reporters on Monday.
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“I’m pretty confident he’s going to be a Melbourne player still and I know that’s very far from what the consensus is out in the media.
“He was the happiest person I’ve ever seen (last Friday night) beating Fremantle, who is the team that he’s supposed to be going to.
“I love playing with him, I love being his leader, I love being his friend, I love coaching him and I love seeing little bits that I’ve told him during the week come out on game day.
“I’m really excited, especially for the next seven weeks, to play with Luke and then hopefully for the next few years.”
Local fans in Perth taunted Melbourne players last Friday night by hanging a Fremantle jersey with “Jackson” written on it over the race. The jersey was snatched and then thrown away by Jackson’s teammate Jake Melksham.
FEET STAR SET TO LOCK IN NEW DEAL
Collingwood are looking to lock in Round 19 hero Jamie Elliott on a new deal for 2023 and beyond.
Elliott becomes an unrestricted free agent after 11 seasons with the club.
Magpies CEO Mark Anderson on Monday said he was pleased with progress on a new deal for Elliott.
“Discussions are going well with ‘Billy’,” Anderson said on SEN.
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“Graham Wright heads up that area and does a great job in that space.
“Discussions with Billy are going well.”
But he refused to be drawn into talk about potential offers for Lion Dan McStay or Giant Tim Taranto.
“We’re focused on our current playing group with four rounds to go,” he said.
“We’ve got a great list and they’re performing.
“So we are staying focused.
“We don’t talk about players at other clubs and it wouldn’t be appropriate to do so.”
Collingwood have a host of players out of contract including Jordan De Goey, the Brown brothers Callum and Tyler, Steele Sidebottom, Mason Cox and young Josh Carmichael.
FRINGE DOCKER URGED TO STAY PUT
Bailey Banfield is having a great season for the Dockers, and sits inside their top five goal scorers in 2022.
But the 24-year-old remains on the fringe, as an unused medi sub on five separate occasions and activated as the sub in other matches.
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WA commentator Tim Gossage argued Banfield would get a game at “four or five other clubs and play 20 games a year” if he left the Dockers in search of a more permanent role.
But Fremantle great Matthew Pavlich urged Banfield to “stick it out”.
“Would he get personal satisfaction and would he get a sense of purpose of being in a group and building and working his way into a team? No he would n’t (if he he left), ”Pavlich sad on SEN.
“He could go to, you’re right, half a dozen clubs, 12 clubs and be playing most weeks.
“But all his effort, his leadership, he’s rated really highly down there. It would not be necessarily worth his time if he chose to leave.
“He’s put all this effort in… I would stick it out but that’s just the way I look at those things.”
While statistics show Banfield has kicked 18 goals from 19 matches, he didn’t get on the field for five of those games.
Banfield was snapped up with pick five in the 2018 rookie draft after being named Claremont’s best and fairest in the WAFL in 2017.
