Fremantle fan flies 50 hours from US for Dockers' Grand Final shot
Rafe English has set aside more than 50 hours to watch his team play for about two.
The Perth-born university student, now studying in Normal, Illinois, is travelling from the United States to Melbourne for Saturday's AFL Grand Final between Fremantle and Brisbane. He spoke to ABC News during a seven-hour layover in Dallas, Texas, midway through the trek.
The trip is a grind. It started with a two-hour train ride from central Illinois to Chicago, where English spent the night. Then came another hour by bus and train to the airport. Then a 2.5-hour flight to Dallas. Then the big one: 17.5 hours from Dallas to Melbourne.
All up, more than two full days in transit. His flight is due to land at 5am on Saturday. Family will be waiting. Then it is on to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Fremantle meet the Brisbane Lions at the MCG on Saturday. The game is officially the 2026 Toyota AFL Grand Final. It is Australian rules football's championship decider, one match to decide the season. The first bounce is at 2:30pm AEST, or 12:30pm back in Perth, according to Fremantle FC.
The stakes explain the air miles. This is only Fremantle's second grand final. The Dockers — Fremantle's team, all in purple — lost their first one to Hawthorn in 2013 by 15 points. They are chasing the club's first premiership flag, the championship prize, according to the AFL.
Fremantle reached the decider through the finals series, which ends with the Grand Final. The Dockers faced Sydney in a preliminary final at the Sydney Cricket Ground on a Friday night. That game started at 7.40pm AEST.
English is not travelling alone in spirit. Return airfares to Melbourne have hit $6,000 ahead of Saturday as supporters from Western Australia and Queensland hunt for seats, ABC News reported. Back home, the city of Fremantle is bracing for 40,000 fans to flood its streets and venues for the showdown with Brisbane.
What makes this stand out is the simplicity. One student. One very long itinerary. One shot at seeing history live.
Fifty hours there. A reunion at dawn. Then four quarters to decide it all.
