Whether you follow the footy or not, it would be hard to miss the wave of purple passion that has swept through our neighbourhoods, our social feeds and the media over the past few weeks as the AFL season builds towards tomorrow’s Grand Final.
It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a Fremantle supporter.
After years of hoping, believing and riding every high and low, the Fremantle Dockers are heading to the MCG to play in the Grand Final – only the second time in their 32-year history. You can feel the passion everywhere.
Last week’s epic come-from-behind win over Sydney in Sydney saw the Cappuccino Strip turn into a heaving sea of purple. But it goes well beyond the streets. It’s in the messages, the group chats, the photos and videos being shared, the social media posts and the conversations happening everywhere you go.
Local businesses have embraced it: purple cupcakes, dumplings and sausages, decorated shopfronts, signage, flags flying and buildings glowing purple at night. One local resident has even painted a huge purple anchor across her front lawn.
You can’t manufacture this kind of passion.
It comes from years of caring, showing up, believing, sticking together and feeling connected to the place you call home.
Perhaps that’s part of what makes living in and around Fremantle so special. There’s a fierce local pride here. Neighbours become friends, people support local, familiar faces are everywhere and, when something matters to the community, people show up – like Wharfie time!
It’s something we see through our work every day. When people choose a home, they’re choosing the neighbourhood they’ll walk through, the local businesses they’ll support, the people they’ll live alongside and the community they hope to become part of.
And here in Fremantle, that sense of connection is a big part of what makes people want to call this place home.
Football hasn’t created that connection. It’s amplified it.
Whatever happens tomorrow (and of course we want it to be a Freo win!), this is a pretty special moment for our community.
From the entire passionate White House team: Go Freo! 💜
