Bunbury is getting into footy spirit ahead of this weekend’s inaugural fixture, as the regional town prepares to host North Melbourne and the West Coast Eagles on Sunday afternoon. 

It marks the first time two AFL clubs have played for premiership points in regional WA, with 15,000 fans – including locals and tourists set to fill up the newly upgraded Hands Oval Stadium. 

The Bunbury locals had a taste of footy action earlier this year, where West Coast and North Melbourne producing a thriller during the AAMI Community Series. 

And they were keen for more, with tickets snapped up in less than 30-minutes during March’s presale. 

Speaking to SportFM, Mr Miguel says this weekend’s match been hugely accepted by the Bunbury community. 

“This came along very suddenly and an opportunity arose with North Melbourne chasing a few extra dollars when they were getting out of Tasmania,” he said.

“The State Government was keen to promote tourism in the region. We’re more than happy to accept that, and it’s been a big learning curve for a lot of the team here at the city, but now we’ve got this underway. 

“The ticket sales spoke for themselves. They were sold out in 20 minutes. So it’s clear the community is very excited for it and looking forward to it. 

“I’m standing in the street at the moment. The sun’s back out, so it’s the worst of the weather’s gone, and we’re going to have a great weekend of weather and football.” 

The local community is getting into spirit, with fan zones set up throughout the town and both clubs, including the West Coast’s AFLW side who arrived Thursday, running events in the lead up. 

There is also a competition running, encouraging shop owners to decorate their shopfronts in the colours of the two sides –  the best decorated being rewarded. 

Mr Miguel – a self-proclaimed Dockers fan, is expecting more Eagles colours to fill the streets of Bunbury, despite it being a North Melbourne home game. 

But he also anticipates North Melbourne’s engagement with the local community will earn them a new, loyal fanbase in the town – himself included. 

“I actually signed up as a country North Melbourne member,” he said. 

“WA has a strong North Melbourne supporter base, their biggest membership base outside of Victoria… I think how they grow on that, that’s clearly something they want to do. 

“For the pre-season game, they were a really good. The players come and do a bunch of stuff with our schools and around the place. 

“Their captain’s run, they got all the kids on the field who were having kick-to-kick with them, which was a really nice addition. I’m sure they’ll pick up a lot of supporters while they’re down here.

“They even got out and did some karaoke at one of our local pubs after the game. I wouldn’t imagine they’ll be doing that this year. It might get a bit of strife there after the main game, but I think North Melbourne has certainly won a few fans down this way.” 

Mr Miguel also says they have been exploring options to have some local football played in the lead up to the match as part of the event weekend.

“I think it would be amazing to get some local talent on display beforehand,” he said.

“If you rock up the footy and there’s a reserves game on or an under 18 game, we would love to see that. That would be an incredible opportunity for those players. So we’ll definitely be pushing for that again. 

“There’s been a fair bit of restrictions on the ovals. South Bunbury have been locked out of their club or facility for three weeks while the AFL have all their ground tech guides. 

“Of course they got to make sure everything comes into place as well, which we fully respect. Hopefully as we move forward into next year, there’s those things that we can explore for sure.”

IMAGE: South Western Times