It’s a spine-tingling moment. A feeling in your guts. Now it’s also footy’s hottest buzzword.
Fremantle’s Wharfie Time has graduated from fan-favourite to bona fide footy phenomenon
And as the Dockers continue to charge towards a September assault, it’s a powerful phrase you are going to here – and see – more and more.
Fremantle’s in-stadium innovation went viral after their epic win over Hawthorn in Perth on Thursday. With the eyes of the nation on the standalone primetime match, broadcast nationally on free-to-air, the video of the ship ploughing its way through the waves and the stirring gong and heartbeat sounds sent around the stadium became a sensation.
On Thursday night, it provided a burst of energy. After Michael Frederick cut the margin to less than a goal with just over four minutes to play, the button — the location and keeper of which is held a closely guarded secret — was pressed.
It whipped a 54,140-strong crowd into an absolute frenzy. Then Luke Jackson won a clearance and sent the Dockers forward, Hayden Young absorbed a bone-crunching contest, Josh Treacy defied multiple tacklers and Jye Amiss kicked a goal to put them in front.
Then they kicked two more late goals in a stunning run to win by 15 points.
East coast broadcasters went into meltdown over the moment. Leading Channel 7 analyst Kane Cornes called it the best innovation at a game he’s seen and the phrase travelled like wildfire.
Hundreds of fans have posted their vision of the moment — anecdotally one of the loudest roars an Optus Stadium crowd has ever produced — to social media, with clips going viral.
Almost every Fremantle player who posted to Instagram in the days after the win used it in their captions.
“How bout wharfie time ...” Jackson posted.
Isaiah Dudley shared a series of photos with the caption “wharfie times” while Alex Pearce asked “what in the Wharfie Time”.
And the Dockers are now preparing to plaster it on merchandise ahead of their run towards the finals.
The club — through the AFL — have moved to trademark the phrase for commercial purposes with IP Australia, which could see it splashed across Perth later this year and puts a halt to other non-official merchandise production.
It’s understood the matchday activation, used only in close games, was the brainchild of Fremantle’s events and gameday team, making good use of the giant screens at the Burswood venue and was first used in 2024.
But the words date back to a speech legendary Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich gave to his teammates when they were huddled up ahead of a game against the Hawks in 2009.
“What a great opportunity this is. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for all season. But it has to be underpinned by our hard work,” Pavlich said.
“How much fun has it been, working hard the last couple of weeks? Enjoy the moment, enjoy winning the hard ball.”
Arguably the club’s greatest-ever player finished his address — which was broadcast on Channel Seven — by telling his charges: “Put on your Superman capes, boys, it’s Wharfie Time.”
That quote was mocked by supporters of other clubs at the time, but could now define Fremantle’s premiership charge.
Kept alive as a cult classic reference by the club’s diehard fans, it can now take genuine credit for lifting the team in the tense final moments of the game.
While giving supporters something to cheer about is one thing, Cornes believes the booming noise and the crowd response it got helped get the Dockers over the line.
Cornes, who was part of Channel Seven’s commentary team at the ground for the game, said he “reckoned Wharfie Time got (Fremantle) a win” against the Hawks.
“Wharfie Time is the best in-stadium innovation that I’ve seen. I reckon that had a major impact in lifting the players and getting them over the line,” Cornes told SEN.
“Whoever did it, whoever thought of that at Fremantle, congratulations.
“Every club is looking for a home-town advantage — we’ve seen Never Tear Us Apart, other clubs are doing different things, Brisbane with their goal songs and all of that.
“The crowd was crazy.”
Young said the support from the crowd had played a huge part in the result.
“When Wharfie Time started, it was pretty electric,” he told 6PR.
“The crowd was absolutely amazing, they willed us over the line.
“That was insane. I feel like when Wharfie Time was going, my head was thumping with the beat ... it was pretty special to be a part of. When Jye and Rick (Frederick) kicked their goals, it was so loud.”
Sporting clubs across the globe have used similar methods to help lift their side, or put off opponents for decades.
Some in-stadium traditions are more natural, like Liverpool Football Club fans’ renditions of You’ll Never Walk Alone pre-match at Anfield.
Fans of German Bundesliga club Borrussia Dortmund, wear yellow clothes, carry yellow flags and let off yellow flares at Signal Iduna Park to create an illusion known as the Yellow Wall in the stadium’s gigantic south stand.
Dockers CEO Simon Garlick agreed that moment helped his side win the game, but said its the fans that have turned it into a genuine movement.
“Our members and fans last night were incredible and they deserve a whole heap of praise and credit. What they did was nothing short of extraordinary and showed why there are the best supporters in the comp,” Garlick told The West Australian.
“There’s a fair bit of talk today around Wharfie Time and how the club do it, but really it’s the fans who have made Wharfie Time what it is, and it played a huge part in getting the boys over the line last night.”
Coach Justin Longmuir suggested it would rattle opposition teams.
“Probably the first time we rolled it out, was when we were storming home against Collingwood three years ago,” Longmuir told ABC Radio.
“At that time we did it in play, which was something a little bit different. We are not allowed to do that now. I felt it that night.
“I think we were playing the right sort of style the other night, but they way we were playing it probably would have happened without Wharfie Time.
“It is a great initiative, something different, and I think it would probably spook the opposition when it does come on given the situation that they find themselves in anyway.”
Supporter Andrew Cox, who runs Dockers fan channel Freo Faithful, said the move had given his side a “massive home advantage”.
“It felt like Hawthorn hardly had the footy from the start of Wharfie Time to when we ended up winning the game,” Cox told The West Australian.
“It really got the fans going more than anything and then the fans couldn’t help but lift.
“It just shows the belief that the club and the fanbase is building. To go and win a game like that, 20 points down with our backs against the wall, just shows how much belief we have that we can do something special.
“Given we beat a team in the top four, if we can hone in that home advantage during the finals, it’s going to be huge. No team likes coming over to Perth and playing at Optus.”
Wharfie Time could be seen far and wide if the Dockers’ trademark application is successful.
It would give them full rights to using the phrase on a weird and wacky range of clothing and memorabilia, including wrapping paper, kitchen utensils, board shorts, toys for pets, jigsaw puzzles and digital collectables.
The Dockers also applied to have Flagmantle — used since 2024 to express momentum behind the Dockers’ push for a maiden premiership — trademarked in that season.
But less Wharfie Time has been more for the Dockers so far, and that may well prove to be the case moving forward.
The club have kept the use of the innovation — which comes complete with the dramatic sound effect of a banging gong — shrouded in a veil of mystery, with the identity of the person responsible for making the call on when to use it remaining a secret.
For his part, Cox believes the scarcity in the innovation’s use is part of what makes it so unique.
“I feel like it only needs to happen when we really need to go up a gear and win the game, not just when we’re 20 or 30 points up,” he said.