AFL in Bunbury: City comes to life with colour for historic clash between West Coast and North Melbourne

Invaded by North Melbourne’s blue and swept up in a footy fever the region had never seen before, Bunbury came alive for its first taste of a fully-fledged AFL match.

The clash between the teams sitting 17th and 18th on the ladder was a little rough around the edges and the home State team was beaten in a close one. If there was a DVD replay, it wouldn’t jump off the shelves.

But this Eagles game meant more to the people of Bunbury than most others. It was AFL footy — and it was theirs.

This was footy on the big stage — broadcast around the country on free-to-air in a standalone time slot — but with a distinctly country feel.

On a sleepy Sunday before a public holiday, Western Australia’s South West tourism jewel was beamed into living rooms on the east coast for three hours.

It was standing room only as thousands of fans descended on the ground and the distinctive footy club polos of the South West dotted the sea of blue that coloured the ground’s outer.

Those that had won the race for tickets watched the Eagles pile on a painful one goal and 13 behinds before taking the lead for most of the second half, then being beaten 9.8 (62) to 9.8 (52).

There was not a free hotel room in town on Saturday night, and West Coast and Kangaroos fans lined the city centre, then the streets around Hands Oval before their historic clash.

Eagles fans raced for premium seats at the front of the temporary stands and the club’s cheer-squad stationed themselves behind the goals. Not that they would see much action as their team battled through the first term.

Those that missed out on tickets scaled a bus shelter on the neighbouring Bussell Highway to catch a glimpse. That was until local police moved them on at quarter-time.

A crowd of 12,715 filled the venue — normally home to South West Football League’s South Bunbury — and its temporary stands.

That broke the ground’s all-time football attendance record, set by a2011 pre-season clash between Fremantle and Western Bulldogs.

“It’s been talked about for a long time and plans had been put in place, but to sit here now and see the place packed, it’s amazing,” Bunbury mayor Jaysen Miguel told The West Australian.

“Everyone’s getting around it and it’s really exciting.”

Kangaroos players visited the beach and rolled through the heart of town on Sunday morning.

But it wasn’t just Eagles and North stars in town — Essendon champion Jobe Watson and Eagles premiership coach Adam Simpson were also among those that made the trip to the South West.

The match is the only game to be played on Sunday afternoon, with Carlton’s clash with Essendon fixtured for 5.20pm Perth time.

It means Bunbury has been thrust onto the national stage.

“There’s only the one other game, which is tonight, so there is a lot of focus on Bunbury,” Mr Miguel said.

It is expected a 31 per cent rise in total retail and hospitality spend in Bunbury from the pre-season game held at the ground in March will almost double this match.

North Melbourne superfan Peter Jolley made the trip down from Perth.

“We got down this morning and it’s absolutely buzzing. Perfect weather. It’s so good,” he said.

“Just walking down the main street and seeing droves of people wearing North colours was awesome. You couldn’t ask for a better day.”

The Roos will host one game at Optus Stadium and one in Bunbury for each of the next three seasons as part of the deal, with Fremantle set to head south next year.

North Melbourne’s win in Bunbury came just days after the Socceroos upset Japan at Optus Stadium and amid the V8 Supercars’ round of Perth races.

“What in an incredible week it has been in WA,” sports minister Rita Saffioti said.

“We’ve worked really hard to secure these incredible events.”