Fremantle captain Alex Pearce has stopped short of backing the club’s major sponsor Woodside Energy amid a growing push for the Dockers to end their partnership with the company.
The Dockers fell agonisingly short of a maiden AFL premiership in last month’s grand final defeat to the Brisbane Lions, who clinched a three-peat with a thrilling final quarter comeback.
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At the Global Citizen Now: Perth conference on Monday, Pearce was asked a question about the ‘Get Off My Chest’ movement, which urges Dockers fans to tape over the Woodside logo on Fremantle’s jersey.
A growing group of Dockers fans including author Tim Winton, musician John Butler and Fremantle’s Federal MP Josh Wilson have put their support behind the movement against the club’s deal with Woodside Energy, Australia’s largest oil and gas company.
Woodside has been the major front-of-jersey sponsor for Fremantle since 2010 — their current deal expires at the end of 2027.
Pearce said he was a “little bit uncomfortable” speaking about the topic, but said it was a positive step that players and supporters could influence certain decisions made by the club.
“This is a hard question to answer, but I’m really glad that it’s a it’s a topic that’s discussed and it’s controversial,” the 31-year-old Dockers captain said.
“I think it does show that within the community, we can have we can have influence on who sponsors our teams and who sponsors different areas within our within our community.
“Often, these decisions are made at boardroom level and are out of our hands and are out of the fans and members’ hands.
“But we’ve seen plenty of instances where public opinion has been able to affect change, and ultimately the boardrooms and the presidents who run our sporting organisations and our community areas are serving the members and fans and players and those that are taking part.
“So we do, as fans, players, leaders, have influence in some of these decisions.
“No matter how big that influence is, no matter what you are as a stakeholder, you can have influence in what goes into funding our sports and our community programs.”
Woodside CEO Liz Westcott said last weekend she was hopeful their partnership with Fremantle could continue.
“We like being part of the Dockers team, it’s not just the people in there, the brand, it’s actually a whole circle of relationships,” Westcott said.
“We’ve been there in the growing times, through COVID when it was a real tough competition, and now we’re here at the height of their success to date.”
Pearce suffered a partial Achilles tendon tear in the grand final, but is hopeful he is on track to play in round 1 next year in what would be a remarkable recovery.
“There’s a couple of things going on in there with the Achilles and calf and because of that, a time frame is hard,” Pearce told The West Australian.
“I don’t actually know. But off crutches last week, walking around, doing my rehab in the gym with our physios. It’s feeling good.
“It’s still frustrating. I wish I didn’t have to go through this again, but I’m hoping that post-Christmas, not too long post-Christmas, I’ll be fully training.
“I’d be very surprised if I’m not playing in round one.”