Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles face massive challenge with Optus Stadium unavailable for round one

Can anybody make any sense of why there’s no sport being played at Optus Stadium this weekend? It’s round one of the AFL, but neither Fremantle or West Coast are in town. The AFC Women’s Asian Cup was on Friday night, but the Matildas weren’t at Optus Stadium either. The Dockers are in Geelong for the second season in a row, while the Eagles face the massive task of playing Gold Coast in Queensland on Sunday. The Matildas played at HBF Park. Optus Stadium remained empty. The AFL couldn’t schedule games at Optus Stadium because the Women’s Asian Cup booked out the venue until March 19. That originally sounded understandable. After all, the Matildas keep playing in front of massive crowds, and 44,379 packed into Optus Stadium less than a fortnight ago as Australia beat the Philippines. But the Asian Football Confederation also booked HBF Park for the quarter finals and stuck to their guns by playing there even after they realised the match would include the Matildas. Why book out the venue if you’re not going to use it? The answer is that playing an AFL game would have left markings on the field and they wanted a clean stadium for Tuesday’s semifinal. But locking away Perth’s AFL venue when you’ve got no intention of actually using it has made life extremely difficult for the Dockers and Eagles. Round one was a disaster for both clubs last year and neither team can allow history to repeat itself this weekend. It is the second season in a row where the Dockers have travelled to GMHBA Stadium to face the Cats, and it’ll be the second season in a row where the Eagles have played the Suns. Last time it was at home. This time it is at People First Stadium in Queensland. Last year, Fremantle were embarrassed when the Cats thrashed them by 78 points. As good as Murphy Reid’s four goals on debut were, the rest of the game was horrible, and it put the Dockers under pressure for the first two months of the season. That huge defeat also had a massive impact on their percentage. The Dockers finished the Home and Away season with a percentage of 109.0 and whilst they were tied at 16-7, with Collingwood and GWS their inability to build a healthy percentage after a thumping early loss hurt them when it mattered. Fremantle got their selection wrong last year. They played an unbalanced team and were plugging holes all day. Selecting Liam Reidy as the second ruckman didn’t work and he struggled when used as a forward. Reidy didn’t play for Fremantle again and is now at Carlton, while Pat Voss became a revelation after finally getting his chance in round two. Selection questions are hovering this year too and they all relate to fitness. Is Sean Darcy ready? How will Alex Pearce, Hayden Young and Karl Worner perform after injuries in recent weeks? But the Dockers are a vastly more experienced team than last year and should feel confident. Geelong were horrible on the Gold Coast last week. Can Fremantle apply enough pressure to spook them? West Coast face the opposite of Fremantle’s task. The Eagles will take on the team that made Geelong look ordinary. Winning on the Gold Coast looks like it’s going to be a bloody difficult task this year. The Suns beat West Coast by 87 points at Optus Stadium last year in what was Andrew McQualter’s first game as coach. Plenty has changed since then, notably the line-up. There’s changes everywhere from round one last season. There is no doubt that West Coast are focused on the future. Number one draft pick Willem Duursma’s debut is the headline act in a group that will be energised by excitement. Can they stick with the Suns and avoid a horror patch like the 11 goals they conceded in the third quarter of their pre-season game against Port Adelaide? West Coast have said they want to be more competitive this season. They want to improve their percentage. So this is their first chance to prove they can be fight for four quarters Fremantle and West Coast have one obvious advantage which they need to make the most of. They’ve had months to prepare for round one and focus on what Geelong and Gold Coast do well. The Cats and Suns have the advantage of already playing during Opening Round, but they’ve only had one week to think about playing against the Dockers and Eagles.. You only get one chance to make a first impression and fans will be hoping their team returns to Perth full of optimism for next week when both teams are at home after the soccer departs. Optus Stadium will be full during round two. It’s just a shame there’s no sport there are all this weekend.