DUFF & THE DOCTOR - POST GRAND FINAL REVIEW (30.09.2026)

Mark Duffield (0:07)

Yes, bad case of the Post Grand Final Blues, I think, for Doctor Sean Gorman, who joins us on the show now for Duff and The Doctor. Doctor Gorman, you are in Melbourne.

That's a bad place to be for a freemantle supporter at the moment, mate. What are you doing over there?

Sean Gorman (0:23)

I don't know. I don't know about that, Duff. I think being out of the, you know, the danger zone, Kenny Loggins, is actually not such a bad way to be.

Yeah, no, it's a work thing. So I'm only over here for 48 hours, essentially. So yeah, I'm actually quite glad I got out of Perth, because I was, I don't know about you and others and our listeners, and commiserations to all those freo people that had to endure that and to deal with the shock of it all, really. But yeah, I got out of town, and then, but the hardest part was getting up into the Qantas departure space, and everything had closed down, everything had shut down completely. So there was this big conga line that went for however long it went for. And I was in line for about, I don't know, an hour and 45 minutes, I reckon, standing, getting up through the thing there. It was terrible. Unlike a few people that are coming back from Melbourne after that situation, they only got back yesterday. So after having to endure the shock of it all, so that's only just probably accentuated that. So yeah, I'm in Melbourne, but yeah, look, everyone's moved on. Everyone's moved on and moved through. And there you go, Lockie Neal's nominated to go to the Pies. And that's the way it goes, mate. So anyway, how did you find it, Duff?

Mark Duffield (1:40)

I thought it was a great game. I thought it was as good a grand final as I've ever seen. And that's even sort of allowing for the shock, trauma and disappointment of the last four minutes. I just thought that both teams through the kitchen sink at each other. And look, I think the AFL is very lucky that it had the three games to end the season that it did. So, you know, Fremantle versus Sydney in Sydney as a prelim, when Fremantle came from behind to beat the Swans. And if you are a Dockers supporter thinking you're the only traumatised team, think of how traumatised Sydney would be after going through what they went through and then feeling like they were going to make the Grand Final anyway, and then having it ripped away from them. There was also the Brisbane Hawthorn game at the MCG. And again, if you think that Fremantle supporters the only traumatised one, imagine what Hawthorn supporters were feeling like after the free kick against Jarman Impey in the last minute of the game.

So, as I think Justin Longmuir said last year when they lost to Gold Coast by a point at Optus Stadium, every team finishes the season disappointed, bar one.

And of course, in the last three years, the bar one has been Brisbane. Duff & The Doctor, of course, comes to you thanks to Blackline. That is B-L-A-K-Line. That's Aboriginal-owned business delivering signage, print, promotional products, and creative services with cultural integrity and impact. Where did you watch the game from, Sean?

Sean Gorman (3:12)

I watched it at home.

I watched it with a mate. I was actually quite sick, actually. I'd actually woken up with a bad, sort of funny throat and all the rest of it. But I had a mate that I was catching up with anyway, and he drove up specifically for that. Watched it together, and he's not normally as exuberant as he was. And it was quite interesting to see how the game played out and just how buoyant we both were. And then obviously the game played out the way that it did. And the beers were flowing, but it wasn't too over the top. It wasn't a bit like, as we say, the Pies back in 1970, popping the champagne at half time, which saw the mighty blues come back at them. But it was good. I'm glad I wasn't around people, not because I was coming down with something, but because I just didn't want the extraneous sort of input. I didn't need people screaming. I don't know how people handled it at the MCG or in other venues.

Obviously, Freo was awash with Purple and People and all the rest of it. I just couldn't think of anything worse than being around all that other stuff because there was just too much going on in my own brain. And over time, given the fact that it's been 31, 32 odd years, and those last four minutes were as intense as it was ever going to get. So I'm glad I was on my own. I was on home turf watching it with an old friend, having a couple of quiet and enjoying it up until that last four minutes stuff. There you go. And how did you find it? Because you were there, weren't you? You were at the MCG.