WEST Coast coach John Worsfold has been involved in 28 of the 37 derbies as either a player or coach and he believes this year's Fremantle side is one of the best he has ever seen.
"Yeah, I'd definitely say that, the way they are performing. Their list is great and they are performing at an elite level consistently," Worsfold said ahead of Sunday's crucial clash at Patersons Stadium.
"In 2006 they had a wonderful year, but I think the way they are going at the moment, they have the position to at least match that."
The Eagles' challenge has been made even greater with injury ruling out important defenders Beau Waters and Shannon Hurn.
West Coast could potentially bring back Daniel Kerr, Luke Shuey, Sharrod Wellingham and Sam Butler into the side that beat Adelaide by six points but Worsfold would not provide any selection details.
"At the moment, we've struggled with match committee because we've got so many guys that haven't proven their fitness yet, so we haven't had a real in-depth discussion about it."
Despite Worsfold's lavish praise and Fremantle's superiority on the ladder, the flag fancy is preparing for one of its toughest derby challenges in recent years when its depleted backline locks horns with the Eagles' power forwards.
Fremantle has won 11 of the past 15 derbies, including a 28-point victory in round one, but coach Ross Lyon is wary of the Eagles who have shown strong improvement in recent weeks against quality opposition.
The Eagles power forward pairing of Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling have kicked 75 goals between them this year and Fremantle will have to cope with those two in the absence of All Australian defender Luke McPharlin (who has been ruled out for five weeks with a torn calf).
"We acknowledge it’s a loss but you can't get stuck on that," Lyon said. "We have to move on quickly.
"I can’t pre-empt the match committee, but the likelihood is that Alex Silvagni will come in [to replace McPharlin]."
Lyon believes the Eagles' attack is one of the strongest they will face this season. "I think they rank really highly," he said.
"Clearly when you look at the quality of the opposition they have played recently – Hawthorn was a great game, Essendon and Adelaide just from memory, they have played some very good footy under some challenging circumstances and, potentially, with some of their very best players to return."
To combat their potency, he said the match-ups could be fairly similar to when the teams clashed in round one.
"From memory, (Michael) Johnson would have gone to Darling. (Zac) Dawson would have taken the resting ruckman. McPharlin would have been with Kennedy, I think.
"So we’ll have to take a look at it. It filters down very quickly though. I don’t think there’s a whole stack of options."
Worsfold knows those match-ups will go a long way to shaping the outcome of the game for the Eagles have not kicked 100 points or more against Fremantle in the past 12 clashes.
"In a nutshell, it's scoring against them," Worsfold said at Wednesday's joint press conference.
"You have to score enough to win the game. That's what we've got to challenge ourselves to do."
