Former AFL star Dan Gorringe smashes West Australian newspaper for calling Freo ‘chokers’

Former AFL star Daniel Gorringe has torched the West Australian newspaper over a controversial back page that roasted the Dockers.

Former AFL star Daniel Gorringe has torched the West Australian newspaper over a controversial back page that roasted the Fremantle Dockers.

The Dockers were defeated by the GWS Giants over the weekend and now sit perilously close to falling out of finals contention.

The newspaper photoshopped players to appear as clowns alongside the back page headline of “THE CHOKERS”.

“Historic record Freo will break if they miss finals,” the headline read.

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Gorringe said it was understandable that Perth’s other team, the West Coast Eagles, had been put through the ringer this year by the press. The 2018 premiers have endured a horrific run in recent years and have won just five out of 22 games this season.

“West Australia will never not amaze me anymore. It’s a two-team town in Perth. One of those teams have been stinky this year and we know when Simmo got sacked they did that gross back page spread that got lots of backlash,” Gorringe posted to Instagram.

“Now they’ve got one team left who can represent the city. Who maybe they can throw their arms around and support them for one round of footy left where they can still make finals.

“But what do they do? They go f*** it, call them the chokers.

“Why would you do that?”

Former AFL star Daniel Gorringe has torched the West Australian newspaper over a controversial back page that roasted the Fremantle Dockers.

The West Australian’s front page bidding farewell to coach Adam Simpson was also met with strong criticism.

In an eye-catching cover, West Coast’s damning record over 65 games was laid bare with eight W’s and 57 L’s.

Footy fans were not impressed with the “disrespectful” cover for the coach who guided the team to the 2018 premiership.

Former AFL player Daniel Harford wrote: “Have the West Australian been hacked? Surely...”

One user wrote: “This type of front page is disrespectful to a man who has coached WC for 11 years and led them to two grand finals and a premiership. He’s been sacked, so there’s no need for a pile on.”

Former AFL star Daniel Gorringe says the West Australian has missed an opportunity to support the only Perth team still able to make finals.

Gorringe has built up a cult following in the years after his playing career, first through his List Cloggers podcast with Dylan Buckley, which dissected the week’s footy action in a lighthearted way.

Diehard fans of the show were disappointed when the pair discontinued the show last year and went their separate ways.

Gorringe is now hosting his own Dan Does Footy podcast in collaboration with Sportsbet, while his Instagram account is must watch viewing after a Carlton game.

“We just decided to go our own way,” Buckley explained at the time about no longer working with Gorringe.

“Dan’s an extremely talented person and he’s doing awesome things with Dan Does Footy and I wish him nothing but the best.

“I think it was just time for us to do something different and learn that.

“I’d love to think there’s definitely an opportunity for that show to come back in the future. It was such an incredible audience and I’m so grateful for everyone that ever tuned into that show.

“Still got a love and respect obviously for Dan and what he’s doing and I wish him nothing but the best. One day I’d definitely love to see that show come back.”

The ninth-placed Dockers have one more chance to scrape into the top eight in their clash against Port Adelaide on Sunday.

Originally published as Former AFL star Dan Gorringe smashes West Australian newspaper for calling Freo ‘chokers’