Fremantle’s pulsating clash with Hawthorn last Thursday thrilled commentators and fans alike as a prime-time spotlight was shone on the club’s epic ‘Wharfie Time’ experience.
Although Fremantle have been doing it for years, rarely has it been seen in all its glory as it was on Thursday, prompting AFL expert Kane Cornes to call it “the best in-stadium innovation” that he’s seen, and “one of the great experiences in game” that he’s witnessed.
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The Wharfie Time experience fires up when games are close in the dying handful of minutes — and it certainly sends local fans into a frenzy as the bell rings out across the stadium and the scoreboard lights up.
Last Thursday the drama played out in thrilling circumstances as Fremantle stormed over the top of Hawthorn.
And star Seven commentator Brian Taylor set the scene perfectly for fans at home, as Wharfie Time kicked in: “This is what they call Wharfie Time. The bells are ringing, the crowd is generating a lot of noise, the flags are a-waving.
“They’re within a straight kick here, Fremantle. Wharfie Time!!! Can you believe we’d ever been involved in Wharfie Time?”
On Wednesday night 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary said “everyone’s become enamoured with” Wharfie Time … while coach Justin Longmuir admitted it gave his team a crucial edge over opposition sides.
Asked if he controlled the Wharfie Time “button”, Longmuir said he didn’t, while admitting that was a good thing because he would probably press it in the second quarter.
“No, no, definitely don’t have the button and definitely don’t get a say in when it’s pushed,” Longmuir said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.
“I’d probably be pushing it halfway through the second quarter when we’re not going so well.”
Longmuir praised the concept, noting both players and leaders have embraced the unique home ground advantage.
“It’s a great initiative from the club. Our players love it. Our leaders love it,” he said.
But it’s the effect on visiting teams that Longmuir believes provides the real advantage.
While Fremantle’s players have experienced Wharfie Time a handful of times over the past few years, it is certainly a different story for opposition teams.
“It must spook the opposition to some degree,” Longmuir said on The Agenda Setters.
“Our players have probably seen it four or five times over the last three years and are probably a little bit used to it now and don’t get flustered by that noise, especially from the home crowd.
“But I would imagine away teams that are seeing it for the first time, it would have some impact on them and maybe makes them a little bit reactive in those moments, which clearly helps us as a team.”
After witnessing it last Thursday, Cornes detailed how Channel 7 planned for it ahead of the Hawthorn game.
“We had a bit of a briefing before the game, and Gary O’Keeffe (Seven’s head of AFL) said, ‘Look, if it gets close, there’s a thing called Wharfie Time they they do over here.’ And (he said) we we won’t come back (from the break) with a replay of the previous goal, we’ll come back with Wharfie Time,” Cornes explained.
“And my word, was it one of the great experiences in game that I’ve seen.
“It’s only when the game’s close late in the last quarter …
“But every club is looking for an advantage, a home ground advantage, we’ve seen (Port Adelaide’s) Never Tear us Apart. Other clubs are doing different things. Brisbane with their goal songs and all of that.
“Wharfie Time is the best in-stadium innovation that I’ve seen, and I reckon that had a major impact on lifting the players to get them over the line.
“So whoever did it, whoever thought of that at Fremantle, congratulations.
“I reckon it got them a win … The crowd was crazy.”
Longmuir was also asked if he would take a call from Carlton regarding their vacant coaching position.
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“No, I wouldn’t,” was his very blunt response.
Cornes urged Carlton to seriously look at Longmuir when considering Michael Voss’s replacement, in part due to the fact that Longmuir is on an “ongoing employment agreement” at the club and does not have a secure long-term contract.
“I’m very comfortable coaching Freo. I’m very comfortable with the contract I’ve got at the moment,” Longmuir told The Agenda Setters.
“I understand the noise around it, and what it looks like externally without diving into the facts. But just like, all contracts aren’t the same, all employment agreements aren’t the same. I’m very confident and comfortable with the level of security it gives me and my family.
“It’s a non-story from my point of view.”
Asked if he would consider changing back to a more “traditional contract like the other 17 AFL coaches”, Longmuir did not rule it out.
“You never say never. But at this point, no. I’m very comfortable with where it sits. The way I see my contract is, it doesn’t finish, it doesn’t have an end date,” he said.
“So I wouldn’t go back onto a normal contract as it sits right now. It would have to (be a deal that is a) little bit outlandish, like what Kane put up (on The Agenda Setters), to be honest.”
