A diehard Fremantle couple who live in the heart of Kentucky bluegrass country and have dedicated their farm to the Dockers have made a 15,700km trek to Melbourne to watch their team play off for the AFL premiership on Saturday.
Expatriate West Australian Greg Keeley and his US-born wife Katie named their 100-acre home Fremantle Farm, which boasts a purple and white chicken coop that houses free-range eggs they say “taste like victory”.
They have even named some of their animals after their favourite players, like (Isaiah) Dudley the goat and (Patrick Voss) Vossy the barn kitten.
Greg, a retired Australian and US Navy veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and post 9/11 in security and counter-terrorism, and Katie, a US Navy nurse, were both away on work in the lead up to Fremantle’s preliminary final win over Sydney.
They met up in Chicago, watched the match on delay and then flew to Melbourne the following morning having secured grand final tickets in hope that they would get to see their team participate.
“We met up in the Chicago airport hotel. We were flying out on Sunday morning to come here … not knowing whether we were playing. We didn’t look at socials, didn’t look at the news, didn’t look at anything,” Greg said.
“But knowing this team, we bought our flights a month ago. We were betting on Freo all season. We had no doubt our boys would get us here, but it wasn’t until Saturday night in the airport – and we were flying out at seven in the morning on the Sunday - that we knew it was a done deal and we were going to be able to cheer for our boys here at the MCG.”
Keeley said the farm was a shrine to Fremantle.
“We kind of ripped off the Dockers logo, but replaced the D with a K. It’s 100 something acres in Kentucky. It’s right on the Bourbon Trail.
“We have goats named after my family and a bunch of the players.”
Katie said they had a dog called Schultzy – after former Docker now Magpie Lachie Schultz.
“We now have a cat named Vossy and it has to be Vossy because it’s got all of the character of getting up and about and causing a bit of a ruckus, and so that has to be Voss,” Katie said.
Greg was born at Fremantle Hospital and grew up in WA, trying his hand as a footy caller – he was a commentator for the ABC in the first State of Origin game – before he spent more than a decade in the Royal Australian Navy.
After shifting to the US, he received an offer he could not pass up directly from a three-star admiral – American citizenship, along with becoming a commissioned officer in the US Navy, a move which was supported by members of Congress.
Post-military, Keeley suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and Katie helped him access veteran support programs and it pulled him out of his depression.
He has become an advocate for veterans to seek support if they need it.
He has a new business, in their home town of Lawrenceburg, the Larrikin Bourbon Company, one of the few veteran-owned distilleries in Kentucky.
“We’ve brought a little bit of Australian swagger to what’s a pretty buttoned-up bourbon industry, like it goes back hundreds of years, lots of tradition,” Greg said.
Greg has full faith the Dockers will salute on Saturday.
“I genuinely think they can,” he said.
“As long as they get out of the gates properly.
“Brisbane will have the advantage of having done this a couple of times in the past three years.
“Just looking from the outside looking in, I think they’ve got their stuff together.”
Not surprisingly, Katie said her favourite player was small forward Dudley.
“I love the excitement and the gratitude and the joy that he brings to the game. That’s why I love footy so much,” she said.
“Not only can we belt it out on the ground and actually smash our competition, but at the end of the game, when you see all the boys get around each other and congratulate the players on the other team for a good game, I just think it’s fantastic.
“And I think that Dudley’s spirit really represents the goodness of the sport.”
The pair might be a long way from home, but feel very much welcome in Melbourne, with Fremantle supporters outnumbering their Brisbane Lions’ counterparts 3-1.
“We’ve been here for a couple of days, and we’re seeing it more and more. Like we’ve been on the tram, back and forth, all through the CBD, here at the G yesterday, and it’s all purple,” Greg said.
Katie said they will have a pie and a flat white coffee for breakfast on grand final day.
“Then we’re going to come to the G, get a beer somewhere, do our final preparation,” she said.
“We’ll be sitting under the scoreboard. We couldn’t be farther from the action, but right in the midst of the G.
“I can’t believe it. This is my first time at the MCG and watching our boys fight. Well, I just can’t wait. Go Freo.”
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