IT'S RIVALRY round, and nobody was a fiercer rival than John Worsfold. The West Coast coach was as tough as they come, and now, nearly a decade after playing the last of his 209 games, he admits he still pines for the thrill of the game.
Especially a derby.
"Why shy away from it? It's what it's all about. It's footy," he said at Wednesday's Derby media conference.
"I'd give anything to be out there and playing again, rather than sitting behind the glass and spectating.
"There's more feeling in derbies than other games – more hype, more build up. Not more than finals, but the anticipation of the game is great, and that's the same with the Adelaide-Port Adelaide games – you just know it's there.
"And players get excited about it."
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey agreed.
"The last game we played was a sensational game in many aspects. That's what brings it out in the players – that's not premeditated, that just happens," he said.
"And unfortunately, we do play for those sorts of games, and we've got to be careful of that.
"There were a lot of fines handed out after that game, so you're taking away their livelihood for putting on a performance."
But Harvey denied Fremantle concentrated on beating West Coast at the expense of other games.
"No, I don't...mate, if you saw the amount of planning that it is done – and West Coast are the same – each week to beat the opposition, it's significant, but it's no different whether we're playing West Coast or whether we're playing Hawthorn, like we did last week.
"The same amount of planning goes into those games, the same amount of training goes into those games so it's no different from that aspect."
The Dockers are favourites heading into the game, but Harvey said he took no notice of what the bookies or the punters thought.
"That just reflects the betting markets – really, a lot of people don't know internally what's going on with your playing group, whether you've got blokes who are suspect through injury, or things like that," Harvey said.
"We've had two defeats and haven't been too far away – if that's what they're going off, well, that means nothing when you're playing West Coast.
"I don't think anyone can consider themselves a favourite when you play a game these days – unless you're Geelong."
