I ADMIT I'm not an unbiased observer. I not only support the Dockers, but also sat on the Fremantle Football Club board of directors for three years.

I even coined the term "West Coast Evil" in a suburban newspaper and on a website long before Robert Walls thought of it. I don't like the Eagles for generally silly, footy-related reasons, the way thousands hate Collingwood.

But I will share my observations from the crowd at the round-three derby.

I've watched more than 100 games from my spot behind the opposition bench at Subiaco Oval and have never seen anything like what I saw on Saturday night.

Players and runners coming on and off the ground cop plenty from the crowd behind the bench — some of it is funny, some inane and occasionally fans resort to Michael Braun-style language.

Players and officials from visiting clubs simply don't react. In the main it's probably because they're so focused on what they're doing, but every now and then a smile or glance suggests a comment has registered.

The derby was different. After some mild heckling in the first quarter, Adam Hunter, standing in front of the bench while off for a rest, turned and made an obscene, grabbing-the-genitals gesture at the crowd.

In the same quarter, Daniel Chick responded with a finger salute (not his amputated digit), while as the players moved to the huddle at three-quarter-time, runner Daniel Metropolis invited a heckling fan onto the ground.

The Eagles not involved in the action seemed sensitive, on-edge but in no mood to pull their heads in.

Then came Braun's infamous Ross Glendinning Medal acceptance speech.

The Eagles won the game so, footy being footy, they won the argument, but I left the ground with a feeling of distaste that ran deeper than the normal low caused by a loss to the successful cross-town rival.

I had no idea that things were going to get much worse. Over the next couple of days the details of what Adam Selwood was alleged to have said to Des Headland emerged.

Even some Eagles supporters began to register their disgust on talkback radio and online forums. And that was the word I heard over and over — the West Coast Football Club, boasting the best team in the land — had developed a culture that many people found disgusting.

The fact that Drew Banfield, Channel Ten's new boundary-side commentator at Subiaco Oval, was unwittingly drawn into the Headland-Selwood derby incident has put the spotlight on WA's electronic football media.

Banfield played in West Coast's premiership team last year, while the footy team on commercial radio station 6PR includes former Eagles Karl Langdon, Adrian Barich and Glen Jakovich.

Former Eagles coach Ken Judge is on ABC radio and dual premiership player Chris Mainwaring presents sport on Channel Seven. It all helps to create a perception that football debate is being channelled in a certain direction.

The relationship between Fremantle and West Coast supporters has always been interesting. Fans of the Eagles are far more likely to have a soft spot for the Dockers. Fremantle supporters tend to rate anyone — even Collingwood — over West Coast.

It's worth pointing out that the last place fans of the rival WA-based AFL teams are likely to come across one another is at the footy. Saturday night's match was Fremantle's home game, the crowd of 42,051 included most of the club's 37,796 seated members.

Derbies are big games, but they are not like blockbusters in Melbourne where support is close to 50-50.

On the street, in workplaces, on air and online, everyone in Perth is talking football but very little of it is about kicks and marks. West Coast fans seem to be gathering in two camps — some are hardening in support of their team while others are tiring of defending the indefensible. As poster "WeagleFan" wrote on the lively dockerland.com: "I actually think that Selwood will fall foul of the public eye, not Des. I'm a one-eyed Eagleboy, but I will not accept alledged (sic) language like that."

Meanwhile, the relationship between the clubs — at best distant and frosty — is surely being tested and the West Australian Football Commission, owner of the Eagles and Dockers, has remained silent.

A large crowd turned out to watch the Dockers train at Fremantle Oval on Monday afternoon. It was a show of support for a struggling team, and perhaps it was also a statement that there's more to sport than on-field success.

Les Everett is editor of www.australianrules.com.au