WA Day Fremantle Derby 'like a state game', says Simpson medallistTuesday, May 20, 2025 - 7:46 PM - by Jordan McArdle

Less than a fortnight out from East Fremantle’s highly-anticipated WA Day Derby encounter at Fremantle Community Bank Oval, star Milan Murdock described it as the “biggest home-and-away game” on the Sullivan Logistics WAFL calendar.

Fresh off winning back-to-back Simpson Medals in the Kia WAFL State Team’s drought-breaking win over the SANFL, Murdock likened the Fremantle Derby to a state game.

It’s set to be one of the closest battles in recent years with the Sharks and South Fremantle both flying with 5-1 records to sit just percentage off ladder leaders East Perth.

Murdock expects there to be no love lost between the Fremantle rivals on WA Day in front of a potential crowd of 7500-plus fans.

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“They’re awesome, they’re like a completely different game,” Murdock told the WAFL’s official podcast Seven Point Play.

“It’s like a state game. It’s the biggest home-and-away game in our eyes.

“We’re not the biggest fans of South Freo, are we? And they’re probably not of us so I’m really looking forward to it.”

The 24-year-old did talk up the talents of a pair of Bulldogs – classy forward-midfielder Isiah Winder and captain Chad Pearson – ahead of the clash.

Murdock said Winder was exciting to watch and “puts bums of seats”, while his recent State teammate Pearson “did his job every week” down back for Souths.

The traditional WA Day clash at Fremantle Community Bank Oval will be known as the WAFL RAC Derby, after the Freo rivals joined forces with RAC for a strong road safety campaign.

It comes after the tragic death of South Fremantle colts player Nick Campo in a car accident last year.

“Here at South, we’re a club that’s unfortunately experienced the devastating impact of road trauma so when RAC reached out, we were delighted to receive some support, which includes some driver education and road safety training for our youngest footballers in our colts and Rogers Cup,” South Fremantle CEO Cameron Britt said.

“The RAC, in conjunction with Happiness Co. are meeting with our Rogers Cup players and our colts players, and providing driver education and self-awareness training, which we think is incredibly important, given what we’ve been through as a club and a community.

“The messaging and the awareness around road safety is absolutely paramount, and we’re only too happy to help establish that program going forward.”

Britt echoed Murdock’s sentiment about the significance of the match, describing it as the biggest day outside of the grand final.