Fremantle sit on top of the AFL ladder with 16 wins from 18 games, five rounds left in the 2026 season, and a percentage of 142 — the highest the club has ever recorded. That number matters because percentage acts as the ladder's tiebreaker: if two teams finish level on wins, the one with the higher percentage ranks above the other. No Fremantle side has ever reached this mark, not even the 2015 team coached by Ross Lyon that won 17 games, drew one, finished first, and posted a percentage of 118%.

The immediate stakes land at Perth Stadium on July 24, when Fremantle face West Coast in the Western Derby — the fixture that splits a football city down the middle. Win, and Fremantle stay at least three games clear at the top with four matches remaining, all but locking up the club's first-ever minor premiership (awarded to the team that finishes the home-and-away season in first place). ABC News

Coach Justin Longmuir has built a team that leads the league in fewest points conceded and ranks third in points scored. Forwards Jye Amiss, Josh Treacy, and Patrick Voss have combined for 120 goals. Midfielder Hayden Young has been central to the engine room that drives both ends of the ground.

There is one wrinkle. Fremantle have lost four of their past five first halves — slow starts that they have covered in most cases, winning all but one of those matches. A 14-game winning streak ran through the middle of the season before GWS snapped it. The pattern suggests a side that can be rattled early but finds another gear. Whether that gear holds against a desperate opponent is the question this derby answers.

West Coast, under first-year coach Andrew McQualter, have won four games all season and have not tasted victory since beating Essendon in May. Their opening eight rounds were grim: an average losing margin of 46 points, including a 101-point drubbing by St Kilda in Melbourne in round 8. ABC News

Since that nadir, the Eagles have tightened. Their average margin has improved to minus 11 points. They beat GWS and Essendon, lost to Port Adelaide by a goal, and fell to North Melbourne by a single point. They led at half-time against both the Western Bulldogs and Brisbane — sides currently in the top four. McQualter has said plainly that his group is hunting a "scalp" to crystallize its improvement. ABC News

Two Eagles are driving that push. Harley Reid — the number-one draft pick from 2023 — has gathered 20 or more disposals in every game since the St Kilda loss. Jake Waterman has kicked three or more goals in eight of his past 11 outings.

Fremantle beat West Coast by 56 points when these sides met in April. The gap between them on the ladder is vast. But the Eagles are closer to competitive than their four-win season suggests, and the derby has never required form to matter.

For Fremantle, it is about holding ground. Three games clear with four to play would make catching them mathematically brutal for Sydney, Hawthorn, and Brisbane below. For West Coast, it is about proving the improvement is real, not just closer margins. The derby gives both sides exactly what they need.