Covering Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s royal wedding in 2018 probably doesn’t draw many obvious parallels to reporting on an AFL grand final.

But as I try to find the words to describe the fanfare that swept through Perth on Saturday, something said to me on the street outside Windsor Castle as I stood in a sea of Union Jacks keeps coming back: “Windsor is used to royalty, but it’s never seen anything like this”.

Fans in Perth on Saturday.Credit:Sharon Smith

The same could be said about WA. We love our footy, but we have never seen anything like grand final day.

If a Perth team had made the final two, it’s my belief the state would have spontaneously combusted.

Instead, the unexpected privilege of hosting the grand final in the face of a global pandemic saw local fans put their loyalties aside for a week and raucously back either the Western Bulldogs or Melbourne.

When the Bulldogs took the lead in the second half, the woofs from throughout the capacity crowd roared around the 60,000-seat stadium.

Demons playmaker Christian Petracca had the makeshift Melbourne cheer-squad – made up of Dockers members masquerading as Dees for a day – in raptures after a goal from a banana kick off the boundary line in the third term.

Captain Max Gawn became a fan favourite among the makeshift Melbourne cheer squad, made up of many Dockers members masquerading as Dees for a day.

Football royalty was scattered among punters in the stands, with former Melbourne forward Jesse Hogan seen embracing his old teammates at Fremantle, including Luke Ryan and Michael Walters, while Eagles forward Liam Ryan stopped for a photo with musician Baker Boy, who was part of the pre-game entertainment.

Earlier in the week, more than 8,000 people showed up to watch an open training session, while 180,000 joined a virtual queue for 10,250 grand final general admission tickets, setting a new national ticketing record.

In a mall in the heart of Perth’s CBD – dubbed ‘Footy Place’ for the week – teenage boys lined up to get free mullet haircuts in honour of Doggies star Bailey Smith, and such was the support for the 57-year drought-stricken Dees, the club was scrambling to find a Perth clothing manufacturer last week to restock its merchandise.

Football fans arriving at Optus Stadium on Saturday. Credit:Getty Images

Many of those donning the red and blue would have been long-suffering Fremantle Dockers fans (27-year premiership drought and counting), myself included.

Perth-based Melbourne fan Danny Morris was in disbelief when WA was announced to host the grand final.

Heather McNeill (left) at a Dockers game.

“Perth is known for many things, it’s a beautiful place but when it comes to sport it’s probably not the first thing people think of,” he said,

“We’ve got a beautiful stadium, sure it doesn’t fit 100,000 people but it has everything you need to put on this event and clearly WA people love their sport and this is a great opportunity for us to show that we can host something like this.”

Chris Hardy, a long-time West Coast supporter barracking for the Bulldogs, said the atmosphere around the stadium was like no game he’d ever been to.

“It’s great for the state to get to host the grand final and show the east coast how football mad we are, and what a good show we can put on,” he said.

For me, yesterday was the second grand final I ever attended, having flown to the MCG in 2013 to watch the Dockers get pummeled by the Hawks.

My friend and I were members and had registered in the club’s grand final ballot. Filling out the online form, there was a tiny box at the bottom that said ‘tick if you don’t mind standing-only tickets’. I ticked it – happy to be crammed into any corner of the MCG that would have me.

Flights to Melbourne sold out before the Dockers had even made the grand final, so we spent thousands on flights to Adelaide, then Melbourne without knowing if our team would even make the decider, and if they did, if we would be among the lucky ones to get tickets.

Both fell perfectly into place (and who needs chairs anyway).

That ordeal – the gamble, the cost, the week off work at next to no notice – is the norm for any local Docker or West Coast supporter on the rare (very rare if you’re a Freo fan) occasion your team makes the grand final.

But yesterday, this little ol’ supporter – who at seven years old was so football-obsessed she knew every Eagles player by name and jumper number (sorry for switching teams, Dad) – only had to leave her house and drive 15 minutes down the road to witness sporting history.

Yesterday, little ol’ Perth and its fancy new stadium crowned the AFL 2021 season premiers.

We may need a moment to let that sink in.

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