Friday Fallout: Fremantle officially minor premiers; complete perfect home record

The Fremantle Dockers are officially your 2026 minor premiers!

After a couple of weeks of waiting for the inevitable to happen, the Dockers have now etched themselves definitively as the best team of the 2026 home-and-away season – a second minor premiership after previously claiming the title back in 2015.

The victory against the Crows at Optus Stadium also achieved a remarkable feat for the Dockers, finishing their home-and-away season with a perfect home record of 12 wins and zero defeats at Optus Stadium.

Even more impressively, Fremantle equalled the record for most home-and-away wins in a season for a club based out of Western Australia, tying West Coast’s 19 victories from back in 1991.

That history-defining win wasn’t without a scare though.

The game was fairly back and forth, as the Crows would not go down without a fight, given they are chasing a coveted top four spot. Adelaide hit the lead late in the penultimate quarter, and it looked like they could potentially hand the Dockers their second loss in consecutive weeks.

But Fremantle finished with one of their trademark final quarters, winning the clash by 24 points.

The standouts for Fremantle were Jye Amiss, who kicked an equal career-high five goals, alongside inside midfielder Caleb Serong, who managed 29 disposals and 12 clearances, and Shai Bolton who delivered a whopping game-high 15 inside 50s. For the Crows, Izak Rankine continued his purple patch, dominating with a game-high 39 disposals, 13 score involvements, 10 clearances, six tackles and a goal.

While it was all celebrations for Fremantle, Adelaide are now in danger of falling into a wildcard spot. With the Cats and Melbourne both expected to win this weekend, that would mean the Crows will slide to seventh place at the conclusion of Round 23. And if the Lions win against the Suns, as they should do, then the Crows’ top four hopes are essentially finished.

Adelaide will end their home-and-away season against the Giants at Adelaide Oval next Saturday, while the Dockers will face the Blues at Marvel on the same day.

Connor Scanlon