FREMANTLE has honoured retiring favourite Shaun McManus in perfect style, beating arch rival West Coast for the fifth time in six attempts, 17.14 (116) to 12.11 (83).

With Ross Glendinning medallist Matthew Pavlich and Luke McPharlin in sparkling form, a nine goal first term set up Mark Harvey for his third successive triumph over John Worsfold's side, who started brightly but were washed away on a tide of McManus-led emotion.

The last of the Dockers' originals made his mark on the game, with two early tackles setting the tone and finishing with 21 possessions.

The script for the McManus exit after 228 games (exactly half of them played at Subiaco) was set was set in the first half when the Dockers slammed on 13 goals.

"I live and breathe the Fremantle footy club, it has been an honour to wear this jumper, I am just so proud," McManus said.

"They made a really big effort for me today and I will never forget that."

Fremantle's bid to bring back defender Roger Hayden early failed at the final hurdle, when he was a late scratching. And youngster Josh Head was also unlucky, ruled out in what would have been his first derby. Ryan Murphy and Kepler Bradley took their places in the team.

Early skirmishes of derby 28 were more about making impact on the scoreboard rather than the opponent and five goals in the first ten minutes had the Eagles slightly ahead.

But Fremantle's Garrick Ibbotson and Josh Carr were setting the tone in the midfield, and, of course, McManus had to be involved, bustling into contests, laying tackles and receiving some generous passes.

McPharlin's nine possessions, seven marks and three goals would have grabbed all the early limelight on any other day, but with Pavlich starting in the centre, he made possibly the earliest bid for the Ross Glendinning medal in derby history.

Needing four goals to become the greatest ever goalscorer at Subiaco Oval, the Dockers skipper notched three of them in six minutes, the last of them one of the goals of the season.

The hand-off, dummy and finish were sublime - followed by the ridiculous from umpire Craig Hendrie.

Penalising Darren Glass for the slightest of tugs of David Mundy's jumper, the Dockers kicked a ninth of the term and the McManus day was looking just peachy.

With a luxurious cushion, Freo refused to lie back and relax, instead harrying West Coast with their weight of tackle.

As the Eagles' skills dwindled, McPharlin continued to prosper, kicking his fourth after running onto Pavlich's pinpoint pass.

McManus' first footballing contribution came with a pass for Pavlich's fourth, which took him past Phil Matera on the Subiaco scoring charts.

Le Cras's double early in the third were poles apart in terms of quality, the first a wonderful improvised snap, the second a scruffy finish after Mark Seaby butchered one attempted assist but persisted to provide another.

When Ben McKinley kicked his first from a free kick, the Eagles had a faint pulse - but it faded when McPharlin's fifth emanated from a similar decision, and died altogether when Kepler Bradley doubled his Dockers goal tally with two in six minutes.

The last quarter was all about McManus, every possession cheered to the rafters by the biggest crowd at Subiaco in a miserable year for WA football.

Late goals from West Coast made up some of the margin to redeem some pride, but there was no hiding their deficiencies - or the emotion in McManus' voice as he farewelled the top flight with his eighth win over the Eagles.

FREMANTLE 9.2 13.5 17.10 17.14 (116)
WEST COAST 4.1 6.6 10.7 12.11 (83)

GOALS: Fremantle: McPharlin 5, Pavlich 4, Mundy 2, Carr 2, Bradley 2, Farmer, Mark Johnson. West Coast: LeCras 4, McKinley 2, Hansen 2, Lynch, Seaby, Wirrpanda, Selwood.

BEST: Fremantle: Pavlich, McPharlin, Mundy, Palmer, Schammer, McManus, Carr. West Coast: LeCras, Armstrong, McKinley, Cox, Staker.

INJURIES: Fremantle: Hayden (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Murphy, Head replaced in selected side by Bradley. West Coast: Ebert (cramp).

UMPIRES: Donlon, Hendrie, Ryan.

CROWD: 42,096 at Subiaco Oval.

THE UPSHOT The upshot is that Fremantle is clearly the best of two really average West Australian teams.

TALKING POINT Shaun McManus yesterday got the full retirement package. He carried his kids through the banner, tossed the coin, had a hand in three goals, gave the final address at three-quarter-time (to which the Dockers responded by kicking four whole points in the last quarter), and was finally carried off through a West Coast-Fremantle guard of honour.