Update: The book is now published. You can order it here.
We all need hobbies. Mine stems from what has essentially been lifelong support to the Fremantle Football Club.
A collector of Fremantle Dockers player issue and match worn guernseys, I spend a fair bit of time in search of the right pieces.
In 2003, I sat glued to the TV and watched Paul Medhurst snap a goal over his shoulder in the final minutes of Fremantle’s away Western Derby win over West Coast.
With his kick Medhurst sealed the game for Fremantle, and locked in the club’s first finals appearance – an Elimination fixture against Essendon at Subiaco Oval.
It was a moment I will never forget. The following week I went with my mum and grandfather to watch Fremantle get pummled by a more experienced opponent, and was quickly brought back down to earth.
Face paint ruined, but a night I’ll never forget.
It was the only game I had the chance to watch with my grandfather – a Greek migrant who grew up on Market Street in the Port City. His battles with illness overcame and by 2006, when Freo finally won a final, it was just me and mum in the stands to celebrate.
It was 19 years later that I was able to track down the guernsey Paul Medhurst wore when he put the Dockers into that final.
The strip had been sent with the rest of the set to United States, and was worn by a local team ever since. They were generous enough to sell it back my way.
In 2024 I wrote a book capturing the history of 30 years of Fremantle Football Club jumpers, alongside dedicated Fremantle collector Erin Warwick and with photographer Josh Ludlow.
The 208-page book was published by Slattery Media and developed with the support and funding of the Fremantle Dockers. Club historian Les Everett wrote the foreword.
The book details every jumper worn from 1995 until the end of 2024, including win-loss records for each.
It features insights from interviews with past and former players, including Matthew Pavlich, Nat Fyfe, Michael Walters, Justin Longmuir, Hayley Miller, Lisa Webb, Alex Pearce, David Mundy, Peter Bell, Brett Peake and Paul Hasleby. It even includes a feature with Neil Turner, the man who designed both the Boxing Kangaroo and the original Fremantle jumper.
It has in many ways been the realisation of a life’s work to date, and a history that I am extremely proud to have delivered.
Diplodopest. 