The West Coast Eagles face the Fremantle Dockers this Saturday in the 58th RAC Derby at Optus Stadium.
This will be Jake Waterman’s seventh Derby in the blue and gold, and he said he loves the feeling of facing cross-town rivals Fremantle.
“I absolutely love playing in derbies,” Waterman said.
“I’ve been lucky to play in a few, haven’t won one in a while which is not great for us but, just the feeling around derby week, the town just perks up a little bit.
“Being a home derby, just looking forward to getting out there and seeing all the fans again and hopefully putting on a good show for them.”
Waterman comes into this game following a career-high six-goal haul against Richmond, and he’s expecting a hefty challenge against a strong Dockers backline this weekend.
“They’re very good, they’re probably one or two of the best defences in the comp,” Waterman said.
“They’re going to be on, we’re expecting them to be at their absolute best, and I can’t wait to get out there, it’s going to be a great challenge.
“I’ve played on ‘Lukey’ Ryan a fair bit over the years, and he’s just an absolute star.
“Whoever I get, I may have to tweak a couple of things here and there, but the basics will hopefully hold me in good stead.”
Making a name for himself as a dominant forward and scoreboard threat, Waterman shared which players have inspired him throughout his budding career.
“There’s too many to name, you start with your (Josh) Kennedy’s and (Mark) LeCras’ and (Jack) Darlings now, and they’ve just set the tone for me to know what’s required to make it at the AFL level,” Waterman said.
“Jamie Cripps is probably the main one, he’s still playing alongside me, and his career and the way he’s gone about it has just inspired me to try and follow in his footsteps a little bit.
“The way he approaches AFL and the lessons I’ve learnt off all those guys, and many more, I can’t thank them enough.”
West Coast moved the ball with precision and pace into the forward 50 in last round’s win over Richmond, with the increase in supply becoming evident as the season goes on.
“The mids have been so good the last few weeks,” Waterman said.
“Their contested work inside, led by ‘Yeoy’ (Elliot Yeo), Harley (Reid) and ‘TK’ (Tim Kelly) has been so good.
“If they can keep getting the numbers they’re getting inside, we’re going to have the best chance as a forward line to kick goals and kick a winning score.
“The connection is growing every game, we’ve got a young side but, just repetition and getting the ball in the young fellas’ hands and letting them show their strengths is what we’re trying to do, and it worked on the weekend.”
