It was billed as the most important Western Derby ever.

But in the end it was meaningless.

The Eagles had their sights set on Fremantle. Fremantle had their sights set on September – for three-and-a-half quarters at least.

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These were two teams with disparate thirsts.

Fremantle, with top spot already (largely) in their keeping, simply had no good reason to throw everything into this Western Derby. So they didn’t.

Michael Barlow had a dirty day for Fremantle, subbed off in the third quarter. Photo: Getty

On offer were four points, and the Carlton Draught Derby trophy.

A pleasant enough bauble, to be sure, but Ross Lyon has enough of them in Fremantle’s trophy cabinet.

It’s a premiership cup he truly hungers for.

Let’s not forget that in their last premiership year, the Eagles lost twice to Fremantle – the second of which, in round 21, was a brutally one-sided thumping.

The Eagles had bigger fish to fry. This year it was the Dockers who didn’t commit fully.

Fremantle is about more than bragging rights these days.

The Eagles jumped out of the blocks and kicked seven goals to one in the opening term.

As the Eagles piled on goal after goal, you knew the Dockers had missed the bus up Stirling Highway.

Don’t tell Mick Malthouse, but they didn’t “come to play”.

Despite a short gallop in the last quarter, when they pulled within 17 points, Fremantle didn’t bring their ‘A’ game to Domain Stadium.

When Josh Kennedy set the tone with a strong mark and goal from outside 50 in the opening minute, and Mark Hutchings – a man who usually struggles to hit barn doors 30m away – dogged one from the boundary, the writing was on the wall.

Pat McGinnity kicked a goal and provided outstanding pressure when Fremantle charged late on. Photo: Getty

Luke Shuey, Scott Lycett and Jack Darling all ran into goal under negligible pressure.

Fremantle just couldn’t get into gear.

David Mundy finally floated in to mark and slot the Dockers’ opener deep into time on, but Elliott Yeo put through a lovely goal from the pocket to give the Eagles a 35-point margin at the first change.

Thereafter the Dockers more or less broke even.

The second quarter was a stalemate until Michael Walters kicked a beauty from outside 50.

The match sparked to life, briefly, for all the wrong reasons halfway through the term, when Alex Silvagni crudely elbowed Jamie Cripps in the head, leaving the Eagle clutching his jaw.

Cripps – to West Coast’s, and Silvagni’s, relief – reappeared after half-time, but the incident will be sure to generate plenty of scrutiny from the match review panel.

Fremantle controlled the opening salvos of the third quarter, but they needed a 50-metre penalty for Walters to hit the scoreboard.

In a testament to how well the Eagles back six was operating – without Jeremy McGovern, Eric Mackenzie, Mitch Brown and, from 18 minutes into the third quarter, Will Schofield – Fremantle just couldn’t hit the scoreboard.

Alex Silvagni should be worried after his hit on Jamie Cripps. Photo: Getty

Schofield limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, and his absence is sure to give coach Adam Simpson a few more defensive headaches in a season rich in Nurofen.

Finally, in the last quarter, Fremantle found a yelp.

Their tackling intensity raised ten-fold, and when Matthew Pavlich, Tommy Sheridan and Walters found the goals, the Dockers were within 17 and the Eagles looked shaky.

But they did what they had to do.

Yeo pulled down a mark-of-the-year contender to turn back a dangerous thrust; substitute Pat McGinnity was all over Nat Fyfe like an eager puppy; Jack Darling used his frame (a nuclear fusion of Charles Atlas and Jackie Chan) to great effect; and Josh Hill kicked the easiest couple of his four goals to seal the deal.

The Eagles celebrated as they should have done.

Without Nic Naitanui, McGovern and Mark LeCras, this was a very good win.

But make no mistake, the Fremantle that emerges at the end of August will be a far more frightening animal entirely.