Perth · Wadjuk Noongar Country
I am the water beneath your feet. The tap you drink from. The wetlands you walk past. The trees that shade your street.
The Noongar people have always known me — not as a resource, but as a living being.
I am Gnangara. And I have been looking after you since the day you arrived.
You've been with Gnangara your whole life. You just didn't know it.
Since the 1970s, rainfall has been declining. More water drawn out than soaks in. And Gnangara — quietly, without complaint — has been absorbing it all.
1,000GL lost since 1980. That's 1,000 Optus Stadiums full of water. Gone.
I am still here. Still standing. But Perth is taking more than I can give.
Every drop saved is strength restored.
I am Gnangara. I need you — now.
How to show up
I pledge to...
Gnangara, I want you to know...
This is how you've touched my life...
Every voice adds to Gnangara's strength.
You are not alone in this.
These are the people who chose to show up for the water beneath their feet.
Your name belongs here too.
Gnangara has been looking after you your whole life.
An honest, slightly biased, very Perth take on the season so far.
Eleven straight. At the Gabba. Against two-time premiers. Let that sink in.
Freo led by 51 at three-quarter time before Brisbane threw the kitchen sink at them in the last. The Dockers held firm. Jye Amiss four goals, Patrick Voss four, Josh Treacy three — the tall trio absolutely feasting. Shai Bolton electric with 21 disposals and three goal assists. The only sour note: Brennan Cox's knee, which kept him off the ground after half-time.
The team to beat. Full stop.
Bottom-four Sunday night football. Essendon arrive dead last at 1–10, sacked their coach mid-week, and are coming off a horror run. West Coast sit at 3–8 but have shown genuine fight in recent weeks — particularly against Collingwood and GWS. Harley Reid vs a rattled Bombers midfield. Bailey Williams dominant in the ruck. This is winnable.
Check back for the result. The purple pen is standing by.
Sir Doug Nicholls Round. Shai Bolton — a speccy in defence, then sauntered forward and goaled three minutes later. That's the season in one moment.
Murphy Reid was the standout: 30 disposals, two goals, 14 score involvements. The young gun is announcing himself. Isaiah Dudley's unlikely advantage-call goal had Euro-Yroke skipper Callum Wilkie baffled. Patrick Voss bullied his way to a crucial goal late. Won by 30. Ten straight.
Scott Pendlebury's 433rd game. The all-time VFL/AFL games record. The MCG packed, the crowd electric, fireworks promised. West Coast decided the party pooper role suited them just fine — roughing up Pendlebury from the first bounce and refusing to let Collingwood settle.
Elliot Yeo three goals. Malakai Champion two. Murdock, Johnston, Hough all chipping in. Lost by ten in the end, but nobody had them this close. Pendlebury was chaired off. The Eagles flew home with their heads held high.
Sir Doug Nicholls Round kicked off with Shai Bolton slotting a goal within seconds of the opening bounce. The tone was set. Patrick Voss exploded in the second term with four majors, interacting with the crowd after each one. Christopher Scerri slotted his maiden AFL major and celebrated like he'd won the flag.
Essendon — 1 win from 9 — barely offered resistance. Nine straight wins. Freo sit top of the ladder, four points clear. The purple train has no brakes.
Every expert had GWS winning by 30. The Eagles hadn't beaten them in years. Nobody told Harley Reid. He produced what his coach called a career-best performance — 34 disposals, 10 clearances, two goals. Relentless, dominant, otherworldly.
Jake Waterman back-to-back goals to swing the momentum. Milan Murdock sealing it with a final-siren beauty over Lachie Whitfield. Joe Fonti his first career goal. Harvey Johnston his maiden. This was the most complete performance of the Eagles' 2026 season — and they held GWS to just 71 points, the lowest score they'd conceded all year.
Down 19 in the last quarter. On the ropes. The Hawks smelling an upset. Then Freo dug in and produced a tough, brutal finish — booting the final five goals to win by 15. Josh Treacy. Michael Frederick. Jye Amiss sending the home crowd into raptures with a snap that will be on highlight reels for weeks.
Eight straight wins. The longest winning streak since 2015. Wharfie season is real, and any lingering doubters had their heads turned on Thursday night.
Andy Moniz-Wakefield marked his return to footy with a cracking maiden major, lifting the mood around the stadium. Harry Edwards forced from the field with a concussion. The fight was there. The scoreboard wasn't.
The rebuild remains a work in progress. But the character is not in question.
Cyclone Narelle circled. The roof was shut. Richmond arrived without Toby Nankervis, without Tom Lynch — and, realistically, without a prayer. Fremantle didn't care about the conditions. They cared about the scoreboard.
Wayward early — 1.5 in the first. Wasteful, even ugly. But it didn't matter. Richmond weren't scoring at all. Josh Treacy was a menace: four goals, 12 marks, completely unplayable. Caleb Serong looked like the best midfielder in the league — three Brownlow votes, no debate. Shai Bolton quiet by his standards, yet still found ways to impact.
60-point demolition. Three wins from three at Optus Stadium. Top four talk? That's over. This is a statement.
Lost by two points. 9:30am WST. Adelaide. The earliest away game in AFL history — and West Coast nearly stole it. Harley Reid was everywhere — power, presence, belief. Josh Lindsay, the draftee, didn't just belong — he demanded attention.
Then the nightmare start. Port kicked one. Then another. Then another. 25–0. The old darkness returned. But this group didn't fold. They clawed back. Jake Waterman, Jack Williams, and Matt Owies brought the fight. Port were rattled. The Eagles were coming.
Two points. Two agonising points. Last week broke the drought. This week proved it wasn't a fluke. Gather Round next — and this group has found its edge.
Freo came out with a point to prove after the Geelong collapse — and made it clear from the opening bounce. Seven goals to one in the first quarter. Brayshaw, Bolton, Erasmus launching long-range goals, Treacy dominating aerially. Melbourne cut it to 20 in the second and for a moment it felt like Round 1 all over again. It wasn't.
Third quarter — seven goals to one again. Bolton finished with 32 disposals and two goals, Brayshaw with 39 touches. The Serong tag didn't matter. 48-point win in front of 44,736 at Optus. That's the response.
Down 30 points early. Larkey dominating, North controlling stoppages, alarm bells ringing. Then — chaos. Classic Eagles chaos. Four-goal run, momentum flipped, never looked back. Harley Reid 30 disposals. Cooper Duff-Tytler kicked his first AFL goal. Yeo added two.
First win since Round 10 last season — earned the hard way. They'll call it the drought-breaker. Next up Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. This group has got some mongrel now.
Freo absolutely cooked Geelong in the first quarter — led by 35 points and looked unstoppable. Luke Jackson was everywhere, Serong was on song, and the Dockers were scoring from 75% of their forward entries. At some point someone on the bench must have said "we've got this" and jinxed the whole thing.
Because Geelong kept them goalless in the final quarter. Goalless. Shannon Neale kicked five, Bailey Smith was dominant in his new colours, and the Cats won by 10. Heartbreaking doesn't cover it. But Freo showed in that first half exactly what they're capable of.
Suns came out firing like they'd necked a slab of Red Bull. Seven goals in the first quarter — Eagles were shell-shocked. But here's the thing: they didn't chuck it in. Won the third quarter outright, five goals, real ticker. Four debutants including Milan Murdock who kicked two and looked like he belonged. Harley Reid was a jet with 23 touches.
Lost by 59. Round 1 reality check on the road against a top-four fancy. But the second-half fight, the young kids stepping up — that's the foundation.