Wharfie Time had arrived, and with four minutes and 18 seconds left on the clock, there was no way that the Dockers could bottle this one — with their viral celebration in full swing.
Wharfie Time is a viral celebration the Dockers have been using sparingly in close games at Perth Stadium during the 2026 season.
Pavlich was mic'd up before the match and was caught telling his teammates "put on your Superman capes boys, it's Wharfie Time", as can be seen at 39 second mark of the video below.
On the morning of the grand final, it was properly confirmed — the Dockers would be allowed to use Wharfie Time in the 2026 decider.
4 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Summarized version
It was meant to be a celebration of Fremantle's moment in the grand final sun, but their viral Wharfie Time backfired spectacularly on Saturday.
Headline check
Headline as published: What is Wharfie Time and how did it backfire for heartbroken Dockers?
All two things this headline claims are in the report.
Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. How this is checked
The article, shortened and in plain language
As the bells tolled around the MCG on Saturday, Fremantle fans screamed in exhilaration.
Wharfie Time had arrived, and with four minutes and 18 seconds left on the clock, there was no way that the Dockers could bottle this one — with their viral celebration in full swing.
Before this year the phrase "Wharfie Time" would likely never have passed your ears, and now it's all the AFL world can talk about.
Wharfie Time is a viral celebration the Dockers have been using sparingly in close games at Perth Stadium during the 2026 season.
The lights in the stadium dim, leaving only an eerie glow of purple, as the bells from ACDC's song Hells Bells toll through the stadium and the words "Wharfie Time" appear on the big screen.
Pavlich was mic'd up before the match and was caught telling his teammates "put on your Superman capes boys, it's Wharfie Time", as can be seen at 39 second mark of the video below.
The Dockers went on to embrace the quirkiness of it all and started the Wharfie Time celebration this year.
In the lead-up to the match there had been a heap of talk around whether the Dockers would be allowed to use Wharfie Time at the MCG.
On the morning of the grand final, it was properly confirmed — the Dockers would be allowed to use Wharfie Time in the 2026 decider.
After an incredible to-and-fro throughout, with 4 minutes and 18 seconds left on the clock, Fremantle's Patrick Voss kicked a goal to put the Dockers up by 17 points.
Shortened to 1 minute
of reading, this version reads 8.6 on the Niral Score.
You are reading our version, not theirs.
This is ABC News's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with
verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives
that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations
are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure
this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.
How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it
No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.
Readers can ask a question about this story here.
Questions and answers are for subscribers.
Sign in
to read them.
Comments are read before they appear where anything in them needs a person to look.
Nothing posted here is ever deleted; a comment taken down keeps its text and the reason,
so the decision can be looked at again. How this works