It has become the most important match for football in Western Australia (outside of finals), with former West Coast player and coach John Worsfold claiming that in the week before a derby that it is the main topic in Perth.

"In 2004, during the 175th-anniversary celebrations of the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the Western Derby was named as one of 12 "Heritage Icons", in recognition of "football's key social and historical importance to the State".

[1] Referring to a melee during the Round 21, 2000, Derby, Channel Nine sports reporter Michael Thomson said the match had divided Western Australia and that the "football landscape in WA has been changed forever.

Fremantle are the current holders of the Western Derby Trophy after defeating West Coast by 35 points in Round 20 of the 2024 AFL season.

The player adjudged best on ground in each AFL derby match is awarded the Glendinning–Allan Medal, named after the inaugural captains of the clubs: Ross Glendinning (West Coast) and Ben Allan (Fremantle).

Both clubs were out of finals contention, and the derby earlier in the year had recorded the biggest-ever margin, with Scott Cummings' 10-goal effort helping West Coast to a 117-point win; and, in the lead-up to the season's rematch, both teams were talking down the importance of the game with the standard line of "it's only worth four points".

During the break, a brawl broke out which cleared both teams' benches and resulted in one of the longest tribunal records in recent times.

A six-goal-to-three final quarter—including another two to Waterhouse and singles to Steven Koops, Andrew Shipp, Dale Kickett and Brad Dodd—saw Fremantle hit the lead by two points.

West Coast had narrowly finished as runner-up to Sydney the previous month but were missing their vaunted midfield of Cousins, Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr.

[5] West Coast won this match by 31 points, and Michael Braun was awarded the Ross Glendinning Medal, ending his acceptance speech with "Let's have a fucking good year"[6] which was broadcast to 550,000 viewers on live television and to the 42,551 in attendance.

[11] The closest finish to a derby occurred in Round 18, 2011, when Eagles midfielder Matt Rosa was penalised by umpire Dean Margetts in a deliberate-out-of-bounds decision with West Coast leading by two points in the dying seconds.

Having earned a free kick from the decision, Hayden Ballantyne had a chance to win the game for Fremantle with a shot after the siren from 50 metres out on a tight angle; and, while his drop punt looked a goal for much of its journey, it hit the padding on the right-hand goalpost amid a sea of hands from both sides,[12] leaving the Eagles the winners by a single point, 8.17 (65) to Fremantle's 9.10 (64).

West Coast won by 30 points, setting a new record of ten consecutive derby wins, dating back to August 2015.

It was also highly talked about recruit Harley Reid's first Derby, where he stole the show kicking 3 goals and 19 disposals, placing second with 6 votes in the Glendinning-Allan Medal at just 19 years old and six career games.

The First Western Derby in the AFLW took place on 15 February 2020, when the West Coast Eagles lost to the Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium.