The grand final 'what ifs' that haunted Alex. This is how he battled them

Alex Pearce has replayed the last quarter of the 2026 AFL grand final in his head countless times.

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In the week after the game, the Fremantle captain questioned whether he could have made a difference in the dying stages of the heartbreaking seven-point defeat to Brisbane.

Fremantle captain Alex Pearce is back home on the Coast after an enjoyable AFL season. Picture by David Bellamy

But, as he says, hindsight is a beautiful thing, and now more than a month after the decider, he is at peace with how the game played out.

"I made a decision at one point [in the week and a half when I really struggled] that I was going to deal with what I was feeling and part of that process was speaking to different people," Pearce said.

"I actually spoke through this scenario with my psychologist and this thinking around what could you have done and what ifs.

"Really, you don't know. Maybe I could have [made a difference], maybe I couldn't have. I was a bit sore, maybe it could have been worse. Maybe I could have been the reason we lost.

"We'll never know and that's fine, and I'm at peace with that now.

"That's part of going through that and dealing with those emotions, and the overarching emotion of the whole thing is just pride and gratitude to my teammates, my coaches, the fans, my friends and family, my community."

While he has managed to avoid surgery, he said has still done "a good job of it" and will complete a modified pre-season.

"When next season [comes], I should be good to go. I'm confident in that and I should get some good training in before that," he said.

"But with any significant injury, it's a bit wait and see."

Pearce injured his Achilles during the third quarter of his first AFL grand final. Picture by Getty Images

Reflecting on the Dockers' year more broadly, Pearce said it was "the most fun [he's] had in a season".

"It gave me the most incredible moments, it just kept going to new heights throughout," he said.

"It was like there was three seasons [in one] - the regular season, the finals and then that grand final week. It was so enormous, you forget how big a grand final is.

"I haven't played in one so when the season finishes, normally I'm off to anywhere that's not here. I'd lost the awareness of how big it was.

"But to experience it felt like once in a lifetime, hopefully not, hopefully it's a few times in a lifetime."

Pearce was optimistic about the Dockers' premiership chances in 2027 and believed the playing group now understood exactly what was required to secure the club's maiden flag.

As for whether Wharfie Time would live on, Pearce was confident the team could survive it.

"I think we can get it back going, I think the fans love it - most of them, some are probably a bit traumatised, but that's fine," he said.

Pearce will have an opportunity to say thank you to the Ulverstone community on Friday night. Picture by David Bellamy

He will have an opportunity to say thank you on Friday night, when the Robins host a question-and-answer evening with their favourite son.

"This is the first time [I've done something like this] and I can't remember who brought it up between me and dad, but whoever brought it up the other went 'I was thinking the same thing'," he said.

"It'll be really nice and from my end, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone. We didn't quite get the win, but still want to acknowledge how much it all meant."

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