UNBEATEN at home, so what will it mean in September?

Fremantle, Sydney and Melbourne are all yet to lose on their home decks this year and will hope that form translates in the month that matters most. 

The Dockers have won all nine games at Optus Stadium so far in 2026 – eight home games, plus West Coast’s 'home' derby – with three games in Perth to finish the home and away season.

The last time Fremantle lost in Perth was last year's one-point elimination final loss to Gold Coast. 

They have won only one final at Optus Stadium – the 2022 elimination final over the Western Bulldogs – since the ground opened in 2018, and only one final in Western Australia since the the club's only Grand Final appearance to date in 2015. 

But more opportunities are imminent. Justin Longmuir's side is two games clear on top of the ladder after dispatching second-placed Sydney at Optus Stadium last Thursday night, with Hawthorn 14 premiership points behind them in third. 

Two home finals beckon, where the Dockers have averaged 50,462 fans per game at a hostile Optus Stadium to sit only behind Collingwood (61,932), Carlton (59,209) and Essendon (51,241) for average home attendance in 2026. 

Sydney is eight from eight at the SCG to start 2026 and has won six of seven finals at that ground this century (the Swans are 8-3 at Stadium Australia) playing in seven Grand Finals in that time.

Melbourne is 9-0 at the MCG to start the Steven King era – five have been in the 3.15pm Sunday slot – with only one night and one twilight game and currently sit in sixth spot, a game clear of the wildcard spots. 

The AFL has introduced an expanded top 10 finals system this year featuring a wildcard weekend, but since the top eight started in 2000, only four teams that won every home game in the regular season reached the Grand Final.

Essendon was the first team to do it back in 2000 when it won nine games at the MCG en route to finishing top of the ladder, before winning all three games at the home of football in September to win the premiership. 

The Bombers lost the Grand Final the following season after switching home grounds to Docklands, where they won nine from nine at what was then called Colonial Stadium, but didn't play finals.

Brisbane did it most recently, winning 11 home and away games in 2023, then both finals at the Gabba before falling just four points short in the Grand Final to Collingwood. They have gone the long way the past two years to go back-to-back, showing that home finals don't guarantee anything in September.

Richmond remarkably won 15 straight games at the MCG to start 2018, but then missed the opportunity to go back-to-back during the Dimmasty', courtesy of a Mason Cox masterclass on preliminary final night. 

Geelong won the flag in 2009 after winning all eight home games at Kardinia Park during the home and away season.

The Dockers have an average winning margin of 35.7 points at Optus Stadium this year. They will be hard to beat at home this September. But can they be the first non-Victorian side to win every game at home, then get it done at the MCG on the final day of the season?